


Rogue's Perfection

by DoctorMerlinReid



Series: Gone Rogue [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Human Experimentation, M/M, Metahumans, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-01-26 08:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 172,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21371155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorMerlinReid/pseuds/DoctorMerlinReid
Summary: Two years after Wally's death and metahuman trafficking was on the rise. Dick and the new generation of heroes work to battle against that evil. Some fight for loved ones. Dick fights for the memory of his fallen boyfriend. Wally, though? Wally just wanted to go home.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Wally West
Series: Gone Rogue [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1051214
Comments: 241
Kudos: 253





	1. Prologue

WWWWWW

_Wally came to in a burst of shocked, stale air. For a split second, there was confusion, bright, staticky, lightning tinged. And then there was tar, a thick, all-encompassing, black sludge that clung to his skin (his bare skin – where was his suit?) even as it rocked higher and higher up his immobilized form. He had a moment (where was he? Why couldn't he move? What was this stuff? W-what… what was going on? Was he… was he gone? Was he…) of panicked struggling against the strange bonds that snaked over his bare chest before the tar forced itself over his face, his head. He shook, scared, confused, writhing against his bonds, _needing_ air, please, please air he was going to die no no no no no –_

_Darkness, blacker than the tar that drowned him, took him away again._

DDDDDD

Dick sighed and scrubbed tiredly at his forehead. Across from him, Bedlam burned.

A frantic voice called into his ear, "Nightwing, do you read?"

Dick felt something like a smile tug at his lips as he teased, "Worried about me?" He let the attempt at a smile grow a little more, finally settling into a small smirk. It was going to have to do. It was more than he would have managed two years ago.

Barbara's voice teased back, "Worried that you didn't get a sample of the tar before you blew the place."

"Way ahead of you," Dick answered, smirk sliding off his face as he moved back into mission more, "Sending data now." He glanced down at the sample stick he held. He knew that Barbara and Barry _hated_ when he called it 'sample stick.' It was an incredible piece of technology that could access, test, and formulate results within minutes of being submersed in a chemical. Wally had been working on it, building a prototype for his forensic chemistry degree (Barry had always hated that the only reason Wally was getting a PhD in forensic chemistry was because Wally wanted to know how to avoid leaving evidence) before he… died. Barbara, Barry, and Ray Palmer had gotten together and finished the project out for him. Barbara even went so far as to sync the stick with the amazing contacts she'd made.

"Got it," Barbara answered. She was still speaking as the information about the chemical appeared in Dick's vision, "Running analysis." Dick squinted at the data like it was supposed to mean something to him. He resisted the urge to sigh again, knowing that she'd hear him and scold him for it. She kept talking, "Okay, this is crash. A solid lead to the source of the tar and hopefully Bedlam Central."

"Spill," Dick instructed, turning his gaze back towards the burning building. Finally. _Finally_, a lead.

Barbara answered, "The tar contains a clay only found in one place." She highlighted the country on contact screen, naming it as if he didn't already know, "Markovia."

"Then Markovia, here we come," Dick muttered, mostly to himself.

A new voice snorted into the comms unit, almost causing Dick to overbalance in surprise, "I bet you felt really cool saying that, huh?"

Dick stuttered, "Uh, Artemis, what? What are you doing on this line?"

"I called her," Barbara announced smugly.

Dick hissed at her, "Barbara!"

Artemis interrupted what would have probably become a fantastic fight, "Don't yell at her. She was right to call me. Is this what you've been up to this whole time? How long has it been since you've come to visit? Since you've stayed in one place long enough for one of _us_ to visit _you_?"

"This is important," Dick defended.

Artemis sighed, disappointment filtering through like an actual, physical wave, "I know it's important, Dick. Don't you think it's important enough to involve others?"

"I was going to involve others!" Dick argued, "I just had to get a solid lead."

"Good," Artemis said cheerfully, "Then let's get the Team together and tell them about this new mission we have."

"No," Dick said instantly, "I'm not ready for all of them yet."

Artemis sighed again, "Please stop shutting us out, Dick. We want to help you with this. Even if most of us don't know this is going on. We… we don't want it be like last year."

Dick bristled, "This _isn't_ like that."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to make sure! Dick, this isn't healthy! Rely on people! Let us help you! Don't go off and throw yourself into some mission! You have a real life to maintain! You know that, right?" Artemis shouted.

Dick grit his teeth, "Of course I know that, Artemis. And I'm _doing_ that. I'm _fine_." He swallowed, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, trying to regain control of his temper, "Look, Artemis. I really, really appreciate what you're doing, but… this _isn't_ like last year. I _promise_. You guys… really helped me. I'm not _obsessing_ over this. I can't say that I'm not doing this for – for Wally, but. Well, I'm doing this the right way. The way he would have wanted me to do it."

"Then tell me what's going on," Artemis demanded, "If you're not ready to bring everyone else in, I'll accept that. _For now_. But bring _me_ in. Okay?"

Dick ducked his head to hide a smile that wasn't going to form, "Yeah, okay Artemis. You win."

"Of course I do," Artemis announced primly, Barbara laughing in the background.

Dick grumbled to himself, "Why am I cursed to being surrounded by beautiful, evil women?" The two just cackled in response.

Once they'd finished laughing at his expense, Artemis asked, "So, what exactly is it that I'm doing? I know it's important. I know it has something to do with _tar_ or whatever that means. And I now know it means going to Markovia."

Dick sobered again, "I know you've heard of everything that's going on with the disappearing metas. With the metas that are being _used_, enslaved, experimented on. It's a movement across the _world_, across the _universe_ now. Metas are the next hot spot item, the next weapon to develop in a global arms race that won't ever end. I'm not keen on letting that happen anymore. I've finally tracked down the group. I've been working my way inwards, trying to figure out the source. I'm… focusing on the experimental groups, the ones who are taking children with the metagene and making them metahumans. After Wally… after the research that Luthor did on him, _to_ him… I won't let that happen to any more kids. No one deserves that."

"So, you're doing this to stop a bad thing, but you're mainly doing this for Wally," Artemis summarized, "That's… good. It's a good step towards healing. Does Luthor have anything to do with this?"

Wryly, Dick answered, "At this point, I assume that any large criminal group has something to do with Luthor and the rest of the Light."

Artemis snorted, "Fair enough." She hesitated, just long enough to tell Dick that he wasn't going to like what was coming next, "You should at least bring this to the original group. M'gann and Kaldur are struggling, trying to run the Team and the League with all the recent resignations. Batman took five Leaguers and three Team members with him. Jeff left on his own. I honestly believe that there's a chance that others will leave, too. I've heard rumors that some of the Leaguers who are out with Diana are thinking about resigning once they come home. That sort of long-term mission, seeing all those poor meta kids, the UN restrictions, all the other resignations. It's putting a lot of pressure on people. If you told _at the very least_ M'gann and Kaldur about this, it would help take a lot of stress off of them. It would help them to know that someone's out there, looking at the root of the problem."

Dick sighed, thinking the situation over. Well… based on how he was thinking of doing things… and… then he could… and then… yeah. Okay, he could handle that. Dick grimaced, hoping Artemis would accept the compromise, "I'll tell M'gann. I was thinking that I'd take a team with me to Markovia. You, me, Babs in my ear, and then Conner. Maybe Jeff, too. It's a shame to see his potential being wasted. I _know_ he wants to be a hero. He just needs to be reminded of that."

He could _hear_ the frown in Artemis's voice when she argued, "Tell Kaldur, too. The original team, Dick. If you're telling M'gann and Conner, then that only leaves Kaldur. We learned our lesson about leaving people out of the loop when Kaldur and I went undercover in the Light. Don't make the same mistake."

Wincing, Dick thought back to the group that Barbara was coordinating. Him, M'gann, Kaldur, Bruce, Tim, and Diana would be meeting soon to update each other on their situations. He had planned to tell all of them about his next step at that meeting. But Artemis couldn't know that. Because they were all keeping secrets again. Hiding his unease, Dick argued back, "I'm _going_ to tell Kaldur. Just not yet. I promise it won't help, Artie. It'll only stress him out more."

"Oh no," Artemis started, "You don't get to pull that card on me. I see what you're doing. You're trying to make me feel like you know him better so you can make these kinds of decisions. Maybe that worked a couple years ago, but we all know each other now. And I _know_ that, stressed or not, Kaldur is going to want to know about this."

"And he _will_ know," Dick repeated as patiently as he could, "Just not now. I _promise_ I will tell him, Artemis. I swear it. Completely. Just let me get to a more stable spot, alright? _Please_."

There was a long pause where Dick just crossed his fingers and _prayed_ Artemis would listen. His prayers were answered when Artemis blew out a frustrated breath and sighed, "Fine! But you keep me in the loop! Or if not me, then someone. Just _please_ make sure that _someone_ knows everything. If not, then I can't trust you to not retreat back into yourself."

Dick made a wordless noise of protest, "I didn't retreat into myself!"

Artemis's voice was flat and unimpressed, "You lurked at the back of the funeral, not speaking to anyone, leaving as soon as you could without being obvious. You quit the Team. You stopped communicating with _anyone_. You up and quit university, instead moving to _Bludhaven_ and joining the police academy there! All without telling anyone! And then you swanned off at every chance you got, disappearing into the far reaches of the world, looking for someone who wasn't going to be there."

Dick felt his throat tighten at Artemis's no-nonsense tone and blunt words. Because he _had_ done all of that. He'd spent the year after Wally's death cut off from everyone, searching for… for… nothing, really. An illusion. A false tale. A desperate clutch at something that was already gone. If others had asked during that time, Dick would have told them that he was searching for Wally because Wally _couldn't_ be dead. When depression really set in and he finally accepted that Wally _was_ dead, he would have told them that he was searching for a way to bring Wally back because _Wally couldn't be dead_.

But he never found a way. Wally was dead and there was no body. There was nothing that anyone could really do with that. And what would they have done, anyways? What if there had been a body? Would Dick have taken it to Ra's al Ghul? Would he have pledged his and Wally's soul to the Demon just to bring back a fractured piece of Wally that wouldn't be peaceful at all? It had been a pointless venture. Dick had wasted a year in his frenzied search.

He hadn't mourned properly. He hadn't grieved properly. He never went to see the Rogues or the Flash family and he never even visited the grave site or the memorial placed in the Watch Tower. Dick hadn't been there for the ceremony erecting that hologram, but he'd heard it was beautiful. Supervillain or not, Wally had managed to touch a lot of heroes, change a lot of lives. It was what allowed the hologram to be placed among the other fallen heroes without anyone protesting.

Dick tore his thoughts away, trying to get back control of himself before he started crying, right there in front of a still burning building, "I'm not talking about this right now. I don't want to get into an argument that neither of us are going to win. I'll make sure someone is always in the loop, okay? Are we good? Can I sign off and go somewhere where there _isn't_ a burning building blowing smoke at me?"

Artemis sighed, but acquiesced, "Don't get snippy with me. I'm just trying to help. I'll sign-off, too. Text me when you need me ready for the Markovia mission, alright?"

"Alright, Artemis," Dick answered, a smile trying to tug at his lips again. Artemis sighed again but signed off.

As Dick was climbing down the building and back towards his bike, Barbara spoke quietly into his ear, "Was that wrong of me? To get Artemis?"

"No," Dick sighed, "I know why you guys are worried. I… I know I was in a bad place last year and that you guys all just want to make sure I don't end up there again. Just – please warn me next time you bring someone else in, okay?"

"Okay," Barbara promised, a smile in her voice, "We're going to get these guys."

"Yeah," Dick smiled, "We are."

WWWWWW

_When Wally woke the next time, there was no black tar clinging to his skin. He was clean, bare except for a pair of boxers to keep him modest. He felt… centered. Balanced in a way he hadn't felt for – a long time. The lightning under his skin was numb, dozing in his veins, gently warming him._

_The serenity he fell into didn't feel real. What was that tar? When did he get out of… _there_? When did he escape? Did he really escape? Or did he just give up, give in? Was this what it felt like to give in to the lightning? Wally's head sunk down so his chin was resting against his chest. The peaceful feeling was fading as tiredness, panic, and confusion rose up. There were so many unanswered questions. He needed to know what was happening. He – he needed someone. He needed Dick. Or Len. Someone. But he was alone and scared and confusion._

_A woman appeared through the glass in front of him (was he inside of something? Did he have to worry about air consumption?), peering at him. She startled when she met his tired green eyes, but she didn't say anything. Wally wanted to open his mouth, demand answers, cry for help, beg to be released from this strange place with its strange memories, but he was just too tired to speak._

_He drifted back under._

DDDDDD

Dick blew out a breath and threw himself into a chair. M'gann floated gracefully down next to him, a steaming mug of hot chocolate gripped in her hands. She gave him a reproachful look over the rim of it, "When did I become a mother?"

Dick grinned, "Probably about the same time you ended up living at the Cave with Conner. You can't tell me that living with him didn't include a lot of mothering."

M'gann peered at him, red-brown eyes almost glowing, "You seem happier, more settled."

Startled, Dick glanced over at her, quirking an eyebrow, "Really? I don't feel all that different. I'm just the same old me."

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. Or, well, maybe you are now. But you haven't been for a while. Ever since… ever since Wally died, you haven't been yourself. I think that you are just now coming back into yourself. Maybe its because you have a mission. Maybe it's because you're finally allowing people back into your life. But it's good. I've missed you."

Dick could feel his cheeks heat up, "Yeah, well, I missed you guys too."

M'gann squealed, "Aw! You're too cute!"

Conner came up next to her, settling his bulk onto the arm of the chair the two of them were sharing. He smirked, "You really are."

Dick mock glared at the two of them, "This is why I don't visit! Everyone just makes fun of me!"

M'gann giggled. Conner laughed, throwing his head back, "Speaking of mocking you!" Dick groaned and Conner just grinned at him, unrepentant, "You can't tell me that you haven't adopted all of those kids as your own either."

"Great," Artemis said, walking over, her hair falling in loose waves around her shoulders, "They're going to have some weird congregation of heroes fawning over them all the time. Just what they need. Weirdest parenting technique ever. Ugh, I'm too young for all this co-parenting stuff. With Will running his own company and Jade still being an anti-hero, I'm practically raising their kid. I live with them, you know? Do you know how weird it is to live with your sister, brother-in-law, and niece? If only I wasn't so conscientious about money. Maybe I would have been able to say no when they offered their place for me to stay during college. But now I've got Violet living there, too! And I'll be here with Violet, Brion, and Forager half the time. I'm too young for this."

"Maybe if you settled down with someone…" M'gann said pointedly.

Dick coughed into his palm, "Cough, Zatanna, cough."

Artemis glared at him, "Real cute, Dick." She turned back to M'gann, "It's not like I'm some antisocial spinster or something. I go out on dates. I've had boyfriends. I had a girlfriend. Still doesn't mean I'm ready to parent teenagers. At least the League was older once they started collectively parenting us. You can't tell me that you'd be ready for kids."

M'gann shrugged one shoulder delicately as she and Conner made intense eye contact, "I mean, we'd talked about it, but… it wouldn't have been until after we were married. We were going to go in and get some tests, actually, to see if we'd even be, ahem, _compatible_ with each other. A surprising amount of alien species are, but we wanted to be certain that Martian and half-Kryptonian were. We probably would have tried for kids as soon as we were married."

"You two are so sweet it's sickening. C'mon, Dick. You're with me, right? Too young for kids?" Artemis pressured.

Dick felt grief rising up, threatening to swallow him, but he forced himself to give her a small smile and a shrug, "I'm with those two, actually. Wally and I had actually talked about kids – before. There are some interesting programs that were just kicking off about three years ago that were designed so people could adopt metahumans. I think one of the big organizations is actually making plans to team up with the Metahuman Youth Center that's being finished up in Taos. But we had actually contacted them and started setting up a profile for – for when we were ready." He thought of the ring he'd found in one of Wally's hidden stashes once he'd finally gotten around to going through his stuff (going through it, but not getting rid of it. He just put some away so it wasn't constantly reminding him). He'd gone to Len about it and the older man had said that he'd helped Wally pick it out – legally, with payment and everything. Wally had been planning to propose once Artemis and Kaldur were back from their mission. His plans had been waylaid by the mess that came with the Reach, but he'd planned to propose as soon as they were gone. But Wally died before he could propose. It didn't stop Dick from wearing the ring on a chain around his neck, though.

Thankfully, Artemis let the little bit of grief that showed through go, instead commenting, "Really? You were supposed to be on my side. Then again, I've seen you with Tim. You'd make a good dad."

"Well," M'gann said with a smile, "You're certainly going to get some practice with these ones. I think it's better to start when they're teenagers. They might be more stubborn, but they're less messy and you have to worry less about literally everything being a safety hazard."

Conner snorted, "You do remember that we're keeping the boys, right? I know I was a bit of an outlier, but most boys are _quite_ messy."

Artemis groaned, "Tell me about it! Will was a _mess_, completely disgusting until Jade put her foot down and kicked him out for a week. And don't even get me started about the time that Jim and Roy came to live with us for a week or two. _Actual nightmare_."

Dick sent them a pathetically grateful glance, happier than he'd been for a while. They certainly knew how to drag him out of his depressive moods. They could get him to work _with_ his grief instead of _for_ it.

Barbara's voice in his ear almost made Dick send his drink flying. Thankfully, he had years of Bat training and being used to a boyfriend with superspeed to use to hide his reaction. She spoke quietly and excitedly, "I found out who Halo is! Her real name is Gabrielle Daou and she is a Quraci refugee who was working as a servant in the Markovian royal palace when she went missing. She has only recently been reported missing."

"Dick?" M'gann asked, concern highlighting her features.

Blinking, Dick said, "Just got some info. I've got Halo's real name now."

"Really?" Artemis asked, smile stretching onto her face as she stood up, "Let's go tell her the good news!"

Except, when they went outside to tell them, there was no one there. Brion, Forager, Violet. All gone. Along with Sphere.

With a sinking feeling, Dick figured he'd just discovered the worst aspect of being parent to a teenager: the rebellious phase.

WWWWWW

_Wally wished they'd just let him keep sleeping. He was tired enough all the time that he wouldn't even mind if they kept experimenting on him while he was sleeping – just as long as he was sleeping._

_But they didn't let him sleep. They kept him awake and kept him awake and kept him awake. Life became a blur of scientists rotating over him, muttering to themselves and finding new spots to poke and prod._

_It reminded him of growing up. It reminded him of his family rescuing him. Why weren't they finding him? He was pretty sure that he'd been stationary in this lab for a while (it was hard to tell with the way time blurred in and out around him). Weren't they looking for him? Was he really that hard to find? He just wanted to go _home_. Please, Len, Mick. Please Sam, Digger, Mark. Hartley, James, Cameron. Please, please Barry, Dick, Roy, Kaldur. Someone. Anyone. He didn't care if it was a hero or a villain, but _please_._

_Sometimes, they'd let Wally sit alone in a cell and drift, always too cold and in pain to fully fall asleep, and he'd mutter to himself, "You promised me that you'd never let me be experimented on again. You promised, babe. You promised." When the scientists came back, all he could do was shake and mutter that sentence over and over again._

DDDDDD

Dick pinched his nose, trying not to let his anger get the better of him. He wasn't going to react like Bruce did when he formed the Team. He _wasn't_. Still, it was _hard_.

At the very least, Brion, Forager, and Violet's determination to stick together long enough to get Tara was nice. It was really sweet, actually. And, well, the three of them, standing there, giving him fierce expressions… it reminded him of himself, Kaldur, and Conner. The three of them had stood up to a group of grown heroes who had surrounded them, determined to bully them into giving up the good thing they had going.

When did everything become so complicated?

Probably about the same time he formed the Team, honestly. Dick's lips twitched slightly upward in bitter amusement. He wrenched them right back down when Brion gave him a slightly relieved look. It was _far_ too early to be feeling relief.

And then there was all that mess with the League. Ra's al Ghul was no longer a part of the Light or leader of the League? _What_? That was insane. The last Dick had heard, Ra's had still been trying to entice Jade back to the League. He hadn't given up, even after her having been a hero for seven years. Then again, he never stopped trying to get Wally to join, either, which had been uncomfortable for everyone involved. Apparently, Wally had made something of an impression on Ra's during his time at the Light.

Over time, Ra's and Wally had come to some sort of agreement and had come to see each other as almost… family? Wally had mentioned seeing Ra's as a grandfather but had immediately followed it up by admitting that he was consistently sure that Ra's was just always looking for the best way to kill him. Either way, Ra's had come to Wally's funeral which had been extra uncomfortable.

The entire funeral had been a strange agglomeration of heroes and villains who all had to pretend that they _weren't_ heroes or villains. No one wanted to give an identity away or get arrested.

Dick shook his head, irritated. What was wrong with him? He'd been doing _fine_! Why was it that his thoughts were always centering around Wally now? Maybe it was his close interactions with all of his friends. Maybe it was Brion's reddish-brown hair. Maybe it was the way that Forager's voice sounded like the one Wally used when he was mocking things. Maybe it was the way Violet got the same determined, intense expression on her face as Wally did when they were talking about serious things. Maybe it was none of those things and Dick had finally cracked.

Glancing out the window of the bioship as it descended towards Conner's house, Dick thought, _If only you were here, Wally. You'd try to corrupt them; I know you would. You'd think it was hilarious, too. You would have been so good with them when you weren't corrupting them, though. All of them are just confused enough about regular American life with powers added on that they remind me of Conner in his earlier days. You were so good at explaining things to him. Did you know him and Brion have bonded over hockey? I think he's trying to teach Violet. Probably Forager, too, now that he's here. It reminds me of when we, ah, kidnapped you. _Dick let his eyes close, making sure his face was turned away from the others. The kids didn't need to see him break down like this. He took in a shuddering breath, _I miss you so much Wally. I love you_.

WWWWWW

Wally blinked his eyes open, staring wordlessly at the girl in front of him. Words had been trained out of him as soon as the scientists finished with him and whoever was in charge decided Wally was better used as an income source. He didn't know who he was being sold to. He didn't much care. He knew that things could get worse than they were, knew that things could get better.

He also knew that he didn't have much of a choice.

The girl grimaced at him and Wally realized that she'd opened his cell in his distraction. She sighed, "Are you coming?"

Wally rose, stumbling only a little bit over the threshold of the cell. He wondered if the girl in front of him was another slave. Bringing a new slave to an owner didn't seem like a job to give another slave, though. Especially not this little girl. She had a fierce look about her; she wasn't afraid to glare guards out of her way. She didn't have the chip on the back of the neck that signified the mindless slaves. Wally didn't hope for much anymore, but he hoped that no one ever put one of those on him.

After a few minutes of that silence, the girl sighed again, low and aggressive, "What's your name?"

Wally eyed her warily, not sure if this was a test. He answered slowly, "Wally."

She glanced back at him, brown eyes flashing with strong irritation, "Are you incapable of holding proper conversations?" When she spoke longer sentences, he could detect an accent. Markovian?

Wally glared back at her. Screw her if she was going to be like that. Maybe she was another slave, trying to act superior around the new kid. He bared his teeth, "Screw you."

Finally, she smirked, flicking short blond hair out of her eyes, "That is better. My name is Tara. I have been asking for someone to partner with regularly. You are my birthday gift."

Feeling somehow emboldened by the idea that this little girl was his master (that was not, to say, that he expected any better treatment – he knew that little girls in this kind of business were often a whole lot scarier than anyone else), Wally threw back, "Fantastic."

"What? Worried you won't measure up?" Tara asked haughtily. Wally was the official negotiator for the Rogues, though. He knew how to read people, how to see what they were hiding. This little girl desperately wanted someone closer to her age to be around. She wanted to not be so lonely anymore. She wanted him to be loyal to her. More than anything, she wanted someone to feel safe around.

So, Wally answered easily, "Yeah, honestly. I know better than to judge someone by their age. Or by how tiny they are." She'd barely swung around to start screeching at him before he talked right over her, "You said I was your birthday present, right? How old did you turn?"

She gave him an annoyed glare (a relieved glance) and kept walking forward. Eventually, she answered.

Wally glanced around as he finally left that place. He didn't know where or what it was. He had no clue what country he was in – a French speaking one, but all the scientists were from different ethnicities. He could be in any number of countries.

But he was out of there, now. He had a chance. Maybe no one was looking for him. Maybe they had a reason. It didn't matter. Wally could always take care of himself. He'd get himself back home to his family. He would.


	2. Chapter 2

WWWWWW

Wally groaned and threw his head back against the headboard, "You can't tell me you're leaving _again_. I'm so _bored_! No one warned me that being a slave was so _boring_!"

Tara glared at him, tiny hands on her tiny hips, "Stop complaining! Honestly! You're barely a slave since all you do is sit around and whine. You certainly don't ever listen to me. Speaking of, what are you doing on my bed?"

"Yours is more comfortable," Wally admitted, "And its within reach of my chain." It was _barely_ within reach of his chain. When they'd brought him back to whatever base Tara lived at, they'd stuck him in a tiny broom closet of a room with a tiny broom closet of a bathroom attached. They'd checked his inhibitor collar, put an electronic cuff around his ankle, and then took a long bit of reinforced cable and attached his ankle cuff to a reinforced hook in the wall.

It had been more than demeaning, being locked up like an animal. Especially when he realized he couldn't get out. Either the person who set this up knew who he was and knew his history of escaping places, or they were just _very_ cautious at this place because he couldn't hack, break, or otherwise dismantle the chain, cuff, or inhibitor collar with the supplies he had access to. It was very, very obnoxious. And very, very frustrating. He was a Rogue! He should be able to get out of… wherever he was.

That was another demeaning aspect of his situation. No one spoke to him. If they spoke to _either_ of them, then they spoke to Tara. She was treated like more of a weapon than a person and had admitted that she was something like a slave, too. So, Wally was a slave of a slave. Fantastic. But, with no one speaking to him, he couldn't get any proper information. Tara didn't know where they were. She said it was procedure for most field agents to not know the location of the headquarters. That way, they couldn't give away information if they were captured.

Wally approved, personally. It was the same technique the Rogues used when they needed to use their 'public' safehouse with someone. Either Wally would run them to the place or they'd travel there with Sam's mirrors. Whichever one was more convenient at the moment. The person they brought back wouldn't have a chance in knowing where they'd been kept. But just because he approved of the theory didn't mean it was less irritating for him.

Tara scowled at him from where she'd been packing to go, "Honestly! You are so – so _infuriating_. And useless!"

"Then take me with you," Wally begged, ready to do anything to get out of this room. He'd been stuck in there for a week now, eating when Tara ate and having absolutely nothing to do but workout as much as he could within the confines of the room and mumble to himself (there were, of course, a few moments where he'd space out in the echoing silence of the room, where he'd forget that he was _out_, and he'd come back to himself minutes or hours later to Tara's concerned face peering down at his). He needed _out_.

"Why should I? I don't know your skills. I don't know if you're a good fighter or a bad fighter or a medium fighter. I don't know how to fight with you. You'd be putting us both in danger!" Tara said, lips pursed. It was obvious that she wasn't sure how to act around him. She'd clearly wanted someone closer to her age to spend time with and get to know and _trust_, but she also clearly hadn't expected that to be provided for her. She hadn't planned this out at all. It meant that their interactions often started out slightly awkward and typically had her getting angry at some point. Slowly but surely, she was figuring out which of his comments were jokes, which were sarcastic, and which were real.

Wally groaned dramatically, "C'mon, you have to know a little! Why else would you have picked me?"

"I didn't pick you," Tara threw back, muttering quietly, "I would have chosen someone less _whiny_ if I had been allowed to pick."

Wally's lips flickered upwards at her tone, "Yeah, okay, but whoever's in charge of you must have known about me then, right? Ask whoever that is." He'd learned quickly not to mention her own status as a slave. The day after she'd told him, he'd made the mistake of referencing her as a slave and that had been the only time she'd hit him so far. Thankfully, she'd seemed as horrified as he was, eyes blown wide and mouth dropped open. Tara had turned and ran out the door right away, not even allowing Wally a chance to say it was alright.

Tara gazed at him curiously, "I had assumed that you were just another experiment. Didn't they activate your metagene? Slade said you had been in the tar."

Wally's eyes narrowed, "… no? I've had my abilities since I was, like, ten. What's this about tar? Was that real?"

"Was what real?" Tara asked, blinking as she tried to keep up with the conversation. Wally wasn't entirely certain he was keeping up with it, himself. It felt a little bit like they were having two separate conversations.

"The tar? I… I had a – a dream? A memory? Of drowning in tar. It was black and thick, and I was strapped down. Was that real?" Wally asked, feeling more than a little silly asking this of a girl five or six years his junior.

Tara frowned, giving him that same look she gave him when he spaced out, "Yes. That's what they use to activate the metagene in kids. They test kids for the metagene and then they take them and activate them and use them." She paused before admitting, "That's what they did to me."

Wally frowned and shook his head, "Who is _actually_ in charge of this place?"

Tara blinked at the sudden conversation change, "Well, I am not certain about that. But the person… in charge of me is Slade Wilson if that helps."

"Slade Wilson?" Wally yelped. _Seriously_?

Tara scowled again, "Yes. And?"

"He's, like, a big bad! One of the deadliest bad guys! And he worked for the Light! You are _not_ telling me that I'm working for the Light again, if unwillingly. I absolutely refuse. But he definitely knows who I am. The whole Light knows who I am. They _definitely_ already know that my metagene's been activated. Why would they have put me in this tar stuff?" Wally asked, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

Rolling her eyes, Tara went back to packing her bag, "You seem to think a rather lot of yourself. What makes you assume that they immediately recognized you? The scientists could have just not recognized you and put you in there anyways."

Wally shook his head, "Even if they didn't recognize me – which, really, I would think I was rather recognizable, - they'd still know I was a meta. I mean, my heartbeat is _way_ faster than a normal human's."

"And they mentioned nothing when they were taking you from wherever you were?" Tara asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Wally frowned at the reminder, "I… I don't remember when they took me. Or how they got me. I was in – I was… I was in a place where no one could find me and then the next thing I knew, I woke up in that machine and there was tar rising over my chest. I don't know what happened in between."

Tara gave him those big, concerned eyes (how anyone could even think to use her as an assassin with such light was beyond Wally) before visibly shutting herself off from those emotions, "Well, I certainly don't know. I am going on my mission now. Perhaps, _if_ I remember, I will talk to Slade about training with you so we can work together."

"_Thank you_," Wally responded fervently. Tara rolled her eyes and picked up her bag, walking out through the door, shutting it behind him. Wally rolled his own eyes when he heard the lock engaging. What did they think he was going to do? If he could get out of the ankle cuff, then he could easily make it past that weak lock. Honestly. You'd think that they really didn't know who Wally was.

Frustrated at the reminder, Wally tugged harshly at the ankle cuff before doing the same to his inhibitor collar. He _hated_ inhibitor collars.

Sighing, Wally tried to calm down. He needed to get his head on straight. At the moment, his best chance at escape was when he got to go out on missions with Tara. Failing that, then his next best chance was convincing Tara to let him out. Probably escape with him too. It had taken him a while to place where he'd seen her before, but he eventually remembered the kidnapped Princess Tara Markov of Markovia. He was almost certain that this girl was that missing princess. Between that and the light he'd seen in her eyes, Wally knew that she wasn't fit for this sort of life. Also, she was a slave too. Wally didn't even want to think about how she'd be punished if she let him out. She'd definitely have to go with him. Wally snorted with amusement; maybe the Rogues could adopt another kid. It had been a while since the last one.

Not that any of that actually helped him in the moment. Well, it helped a little. The entire kingdom of Markovia had put their everything into finding their missing princess. England, being the country she'd disappeared in, had done everything they could to help as well. If the might of two powerful countries wasn't enough to find one girl, then it was little wonder that the same organization was able to hide Wally from the Rogues and the heroes. That… made him feel a little better. Well, a lot better, honestly.

The door opened again, startling Wally. He rolled his eyes, "What? Forget your blankie?"

It wasn't Tara who walked through the door, though. It was Slade Wilson. Deathstroke. Wally swallowed harshly and tried to not show how unnerved he was. He was the Rogues' negotiator. He could keep a straight face if it killed him. Deathstroke stared at him dispassionately, unamused, "I have given you a week of reprieve. Tomorrow starts your training. I will not be _gentle_. I will not be easy. You will be our newest assassin and will be partnered with Terra on missions. You will _never_ be trusted. I worked with the Light at the same time you did. I know how _wishy-washy_ you are with your loyalty. You are a villain one day, a hero the next, an anti-hero the one after, then back to villain."

"Is it really that much of a surprise that I would want to go back to the Rogues?" Wally asked as mildly as he could.

Deathstroke's lips twisted up in a cruel grin, "It's amusing to think they'd even want you back. They're not looking for you, you know."

Wally rolled his eyes "Please, Mr. Wilson. We both know you can do better than that. That is one of the _most_ cliché kidnapper comments I have _ever_ heard." Okay, so, yes. He _was_ the negotiator for the Rogues. That didn't mean that he was completely even-keeled. He used to be a street kid, alright? No one could blame him for being a little surly and a little sarcastic.

Well, maybe Deathstroke could blame him. The man was next to the bed in a moment. Wally tried to stand up (scramble away) and face the oncoming figure, but hadn't gotten to do much more than just sit back and get his legs untangled when Deathstroke brought his fist down on Wally's cheek.

Wally's head snapped to the side, a hiss slipping through his lips as he readied himself for another attack. One that didn't come. When he looked up, Deathstroke had taken a few steps back and was glaring at Wally, "You will _not_ take that tone with me. Tara may be your primary master, but that doesn't mean you won't _obey_ me. I _own_ her, so I own _you_. Remember that."

Wally clenched his jaw, trying to remain still and silent. He hated himself for being afraid. He hated himself for not being able to think of some witty comment. He hated himself for hating himself.

Deathstroke sneered at him, cold and smug all at once, "The world thinks you are _dead_, _Momentum_. The believed that you were _killed_ by the MFD. _No one is looking for you_. At the moment, you are serving a purpose beyond being an experiment. If I were you, I'd make sure that you _behave_ well enough to remain useful. I have no problems sending you back to the labs." Wally stayed silent, hoping his deadly glare portrayed what he was feeling well enough. Deathstroke only smirked in response, "Now, be a good little pet for Tara. And remember, training starts tomorrow."

He turned and whirled around then. Wally wished that he was free just for that moment. Just long enough to _hit_ him. Long enough to show that he wasn't helpless. Long enough to show that he wasn't _broken_. Luthor and his father didn't break him when he was a kid. The Light didn't break him when he was a teenager. Whatever freakshow this was wasn't going to break him either.

With a shuddering breath, Wally tried to pull himself back together. He needed to focus on Deathstroke's words, try to see if there was something he could use, something he could learn from them. Okay, so Deathstroke definitely knew that he was Momentum and everything that entailed. He knew enough to reference Wally's times in the labs as a child, enough to reference Wally's times working with or for various Team and Justice League members. That was… something. Wally wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing yet. He'd find out.

What _was_ a bad thing, however, was the fact that everyone thought he was dead. He supposed he couldn't entirely blame them for the assumption. He'd certainly believed that he was going to die. That MFD had… not felt good. It had been terrifying to look down and not be able to see his legs, his hands.

Wally shook the thoughts from his mind. If he kept on like that, he was going to end up spacing out again and he wasn't a huge fan of that. Okay. So. No one was looking for him. For real that time. No one was looking for him and it had been, what was it? Almost two years based on what Tara had told him? Over two years? Something like that. That wasn't… _too_ bad. He'd heard of heroes that came 'back from the dead' after longer stretches. Not that he was a hero. He was most certainly _not_ a hero. It was just that villains were a little less likely to come back from the dead. Heroes? They never seemed to die. Of course, there were some villains like that, too. But mostly heroes. It was ridiculous.

He'd just have to prove them wrong. He'd be a villain that came back from the dead. He just had to figure out a way to let them know he was alive. Even if he couldn't escape by himself, he was sure he could get a message to the Rogues. If they knew he was alive, then they'd find him. The villain network was pretty tightly knit. He was sure that someone allied with the Rogues would have a clue as to what Deathstroke was up to. If they could find Deathstroke, then they'd probably be able to find him.

Wally felt a wave of tiredness dragging at him.

This was why he wasn't a hero. Being a hero _sucked_. He helped people out one time by undoing a chrysalis MFD and here he is, two years later, a slave probably to the same organization that had experimented on him as a child. Fantastic. Next time, he was leaving it for someone else. Maybe Jay could have helped. Or Max. Or Johnny. Or Jesse. There were plenty of _good_ speedsters that could have easily gone and helped.

Not… not that Wally wanted _them_ to be here, in his place. And he certainly wouldn't have wanted them to… to…

Wally came back to himself with the sight of Tara giving him that concerned look. His eyes slipped shut tiredly as he realized he'd spaced out again. Tara pursed her lips. Instead of commenting on the way he'd lost himself, Tara asked tartly, "What happened to your cheek?"

Still trying to pull himself together, Wally frowned, "My… cheek?"

"Yes," Tara said, trying to hide her worry with irritation, "Your cheek. There's a massive bruise on it. I would have thought you tripped over something, but you're in the exact same spot you were when I left. You didn't even eat."

Wally cut his eyes over to the small table where his and Tara's food was always left. There was food from lunch, from dinner, and from breakfast. He frowned. He'd eaten breakfast with Tara before she left. Struggling, Wally admitted, "Deathstroke hit me. Why is there breakfast there? I already ate breakfast with you."

"You ate breakfast with me yesterday, Wally," Tara said slowly, brows furrowed in concern. She crept hesitantly closer, "Are you sick? I thought I heard that speedsters can't get sick. When… when did you space out?"

Wally shook his head, clutching at it, "I don't know. Not long after Deathstroke left, I guess. Are you saying I've been out of it for almost a full day?"

Tara didn't answer, instead changing the subject, "What did Slade want?"

Wally took a deep breath, trying to not let the situation overwhelm him, "He wanted to let me know that we'd start training tomorrow. He wanted me to know that he doesn't trust me and that if I mess up, then it's back to the labs. He wanted me to know that he knows who I was and that no one was looking."

"Is that true?" Tara asked, "Is there truly no one looking?"

Sighing, Wally stood up carefully, finally feeling the gnawing feeling of hungriness. He grabbed a bag of chips off of the table and started eating them, "I highly doubt it. Apparently, everyone thinks I'm dead. Well, that's what Slade said. He might be wrong. I don't know. Did you ever hear that the supervillain Momentum died?"

Tara's eyebrows raised, "Yes, I did. He died saving the world. Are you trying to say that's you?" The incredulousness in her tone was quite frankly insulting.

Scowling at her, Wally said, "_Yes_, that's me. I'm Momentum. Are there that many red headed speedsters my age out there? Honestly."

"You were a supervillain," Tara pointed out.

Wally rolled his eyes at her, "Wow, really? I hadn't noticed. And I'd like to believe that I'm _still_ a supervillain, thank you very much."

"You don't seem evil," Tara said dubiously.

"Really?" Wally asked, "And you _do_? You can't tell me that you haven't committed crimes."

Tara scowled at him, "Shut up. None of this matters anyways. What you did, who you were – none of that matters anymore. You're what I say you are now."

Wally nodded cautiously to her. He abruptly changed the subject, "Wait, it's tomorrow already. Does that mean training starts today?"

"Probably," Tara said, helping herself to a little bit of Wally's leftovers, "I imagine Slade will come get you when he's done changing out of his mission gear. You should probably get ready."

"It'd take me two _seconds_ to get ready if I could use my abilities," Wally grumbled.

Tara smirked slightly at him, "It'd also take you two seconds to run off."

Wally sighed, "I don't know what Deathstroke even thinks I'm going to be able to do on your missions. He said I'm going to be an assassin or something. I have no skills in that arena. Maybe if I could use my speed, I'd be able to do something, but he has to know that the second I get my speed back, I'm gone. I literally cannot imagine what I'd be doing."

"You're about to find out," Deathstroke growled from the doorway. Wally was just glad that he wasn't the only one who jumped.

Wally was tempted to make a comment about Deathstroke's blatant disregard for privacy, but he remembered the harsh slap to his cheek and the threat of the labs. He stayed silent, choosing to just glare at Deathstroke.

The man was unphased, easily ignoring Wally as he turned to Tara, "Rest for an hour. Then meet us on training field three. I'm going to test Momentum for the first hour. Then you can test him. Then we'll start working on team training. He's going to need a lot of work."

"Gee, thanks," Wally muttered sarcastically, as loudly as he dared. Which wasn't very loudly at all.

Not that that stopped Deathstroke from hearing him. Deathstroke stalked forward, crowding Wally up against the wall, "What did I say about the tone you use with me?" His voice was deceptively mild, and, against his will, Wally felt his heart stutter a little in fear. He made sure his expression was as even and calm as Deathstroke's, though. He'd lost this game yesterday, but not today. Deathstroke wouldn't intimidate him. Wally wouldn't _let_ him.

After a moment, Deathstroke stepped back, a smirk playing around the corners of his lips. Tara was hovering in the background, lips pulled down in an unhappy curve. Deathstroke turned away again, facing Tara, "Do you understand your instructions, Tara?"

Tearing her eyes away from Wally, she looked over at Deathstroke, "Oh, yes! Yes, I do. I will report to training field three in one hour."

"Good," Deathstroke said with a smile that made Wally's skin crawl. Tara, however, gave Deathstroke a happy smile, shoulders relaxing a little bit with that simple amount of praise. Wally clenched his jaw in anger, forcing himself to not make another comment. Sure, he wasn't going to roll over for Deathstroke whenever the man wanted, but Wally was still injured from his time with the scientists and he kept spacing. He'd try to avoid being hurt as often as possible (or, maybe, Wally was actually, truly scared. Maybe he was off center from everything that had happened, from the past two (?) years of his life, from this demeaning situation, from just – _everything_).

"Now," Deathstroke said, "Come with me, Momentum."

With no choice, no options, no _freedom_, Wally could do nothing but obey.


	3. Chapter 3

TTTTTT

Tara spent a good portion of her time trying to not think. Thinking meant acknowledging what she'd done and where she was and _what_ she was and… that wasn't good. It wouldn't help her. It'd probably only make things worse. It didn't matter what she used to be, despite how often Slade mockingly called her princess. It didn't matter who she used to care about; Slade had explained how they failed her and how they betrayed her. It didn't matter what silly morals she used to carry around because they didn't apply to this new world she found herself in. It was kill or be killed and Tara was a survivor.

Despite that, though, she found herself thinking about her new partner. Wally was… interesting. He didn't act like the other slaves. There were two general categories that new slaves fell into: brash and obnoxious or quivering fools. Wally was neither. Sure, he treated Slade with a level of cautious fear, but it was never foolish. He _should_ be afraid of Slade. And the fear was always portrayed proudly. Wally always kept his head high and his eyes cold when Slade was around. It was… awe-inspiring, honestly.

It made Tara wonder what Wally had gone through, what he'd been before he was hers. It made her wonder what he meant when he said he was working for the Light _again_. It made her wonder about the way he spaced out from time to time.

The first time she'd seen it happen, it had terrified her. They'd been in an argument and he'd gone silent. That wasn't unusual – he (rightfully, not that Tara would admit it) believed that disengaging himself from the conversation was the quickest way to remove her anger. Tara had huffed and gone back to the book she'd been reading before he'd struck up a conversation. When she glanced back up from her book, she realized it had been over two hours since he last said anything. _That_ was unusual. He seemed to need conversation like he needed to breath.

She'd looked over at him, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't sound ridiculous and she'd found him in the exact same position he'd been in while they were arguing. His eyes were glazed over and far away. Despite the inhibitor collar around his neck (the sight of it made her shiver – she _hated_ those things ), there were sparks of lightning flickering in his eyes. Cautiously, she called out, "Wally?"

There was no response. She moved closer and licked her lips. Carefully, she poked his shoulder, "Wally?" Still no response. Tara was starting to get genuinely worried at that point. This wasn't normal. She didn't know what it was, but it _wasn't_ normal. She grabbed his shoulder and shook it, "Wally!"

With a breath of air, Wally blinked and looked at her, "I… yes? What? Sorry. I don't… Sorry." He looked so _confused_. Tara wanted to scream. She had wanted a friend, not someone with issues. She had enough issues of her own. What was _wrong_ with him? The question got stuck in her throat as she tried to ask him. He was still blinking big, green, confused eyes at her. There was the faintest tremors in his hands. It was obvious he had no clue what just happened. It was obvious he was even more scared than she was.

So, Tara cleared her throat and tried to wipe the concern from her face, "You were making a weird face. It was bothering me. Stop it." It was a weak attempt to redirect the conversation, to avoid the situation, but Wally allowed it, quickly falling into their usual banter. Tara's heart had continued to thud in her chest.

It hadn't happened often in the two weeks Wally had been with her, but it happened often enough to be concerning. Especially when the only way to bring him back seemed to be contact with another person. The day she'd come back from a mission only to realize that he'd missed almost an entire day and night had been terrifying.

But now that they were training together more often, she could catch it pretty quickly. Luckily, he hadn't spaced in front of Slade yet. Tara didn't want to know what would happen. She was fairly certain that Slade knew it was happening because there wasn't anything that went on in Tara's life that he didn't know, but he hadn't commented on it. But Tara was afraid of what Slade would do to pull Wally out of one of his episodes if he saw it.

Slade… wasn't the nicest when it came to Wally. Sure, he wasn't the nicest when it came to Tara, but he was fair. He only hurt her if she had failed. And it was never anything extreme. With Wally, though, he would hit him for no reason. For mouthing off. For tripping. For looking too surly. For being seconds late. For not standing in the exact spot Slade had wanted him to. It was… scary.

Of course, Tara knew that Slade wouldn't do that to her. And when she'd tentatively asked Slade about it, he'd assured her that he was just trying to make sure that her slave was broken-in correctly.

Tara privately thought that was ridiculous. She hadn't known Wally for long, but she could tell that this wasn't the way to break him in. All she'd have to see was any bit of his skin. He was _covered _in scars. Someone had very clearly tried to break him before and, based on the way he acted, it didn't work. The first time she'd seen him without a shirt on, he'd given her a careful, measuring look, standing stock still and keeping his eyes locked on hers. It was obvious he was waiting to see how she would react. She'd simply swallowed and continued on in their conversation. The continued curiosity had been worth the glimmer of a smile she'd seen as he finished switching shirts.

She didn't understand how he could be a supervillain. Truthfully, she didn't know a lot about villains. She knew the big name heroes and their corresponding big name villains, but Momentum had simply been a part of the Rogues, nothing more. He seemed… so _nice_. Were many villains that nice? Slade certainly wasn't _nice_. He had protected her and helped her learn her powers and he did nice things for her, but he wasn't… well… it was complicated.

But Wally was definitely nice. There was certainly a shimmering of danger that she'd seen time and again in the way he glared at Slade. There was a definite sign of danger when she sparred against him the first time sans powers and he'd moved against her with a clear, careful deadliness that she had _not_ been prepared for based on his usual actions. He'd admitted that he'd been trained quite a bit by a former League of Shadows assassin. Of course, she'd beaten him, but there had been a moment where she'd wondered if he'd let her. She tried to ignore that line of thinking. He wasn't there to _pity_ her.

Sometimes, though, she wondered if the sad way he looked at her occasionally was pity. Sometimes it felt more like a painful understanding and a desperate wish for something else. That was what it felt like when he gave her that look during her next mission briefing. She was supposed to kill someone. Again.

Slade turned to Wally, "You will be watching on the monitor. Tara has training to ensure that the way she kills our enemies fits what the client wants out of the death. You will watch her and learn how to do the same."

Wally reeled back, eyes flashing. He raised his eyebrows and snapped, "No way."

Slade's eyes flicked back over to him, dark and dangerous. Tara felt a shiver of fear inching down her back. Slade asked calmly, "What was that?"

"Please," Wally said, clearly in attack mode, "Don't pretend like you didn't hear it. I'm not going to change my answer. I'm not going to kill anyone. Rogue's don't kill."

Slade took two steps forward, crowding Wally against the wall. Tara felt her heart rise in her throat, reflexively stepping away, but Wally simply stood tall and glared at Slade. Slade snarled, "You are _not_ a Rogue anymore. You-,"

Wally cut him off, seemingly uncaring about his own life as he waved a nonchalant hand and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that's not your decision. Captain Cold is the only one who can officially name someone as not a Rogue and he can only do it with a majority vote from the rest of the Rogues. Get me the evidence that he said that and then we can talk."

Tara flinched when Slade slammed a fist into the wall centimeters from Wally's head, "You will _not_ interrupt me. Do you remember what I said to you about the labs? Either you make yourself useful or you go back to the labs. You _will_ kill when we tell you to."

Wally leaned forward until their noses were almost touching, "No." They stayed like that, nose to nose, glare to glare, for a long moment. Tara itched to pull Wally back, to beg him to not goad Slade like this. _Yes_, killing was awful and Tara hated herself a little more every time she took someone's life, but it wasn't worth _this_. It wouldn't be worth going back to the lab. Wally had to know that if he didn't kill someone then they'd simply send someone else to do the job. He wasn't saving anyone's life. He wasn't doing anything but getting himself in trouble.

Slade leaned back, his usual smirk on his face, "Enjoy your little moment of rebellion. You will do what I've asked. It's up to you how much you have to suffer first." A muscle in Wally's jaw twitched, but he didn't say anything, keeping himself ramrod straight with his glare still locked onto Slade.

Tara felt a breath of relief shoot through her body. She had been concerned for a moment that Wally had pushed too far. She'd been worried that that was that. She'd only had him for two weeks, but she wasn't ready to let go of him. Tara had gotten used to having him around. She was more than a little embarrassed at how quickly she'd latched onto him, but, occasionally, she was honest enough with herself to recognize that Wally was the first one who had shown her true kindness since she'd been taken from London.

Slade finished giving out the mission briefing before he stalked off. Tara shakily started checking over her go-bag, making sure she had the things she needed. After a moment of silence, she snapped, "Don't antagonize him like that!"

Wally sighed, "He should know better than to ask me to do that. I _won't_ kill. I don't know what method he seems to think he has to make me do it, but he's wasting his time."

"The person's going to die anyways!" Tara shouted, turning to him fully.

"And it won't be me that does it," Wally responded stubbornly.

"Why?" Tara demanded, putting her hands on her hips (she knew that Wally thought that stance was ridiculous, but it made her feel powerful, so he could deal with it), "Why won't you kill? And don't tell me it's because Rogues don't kill. Do you do anything just because they tell you to? Do you have any of your own opinions?"

"Of course I do," Wally gritted out through clenched teeth. He said and repeated in a softer tone, "Of course I do. Killing people is wrong. Not killing people is what separates supervillains from monsters."

Tara felt her eyes fill with tears and hated herself for it, "Am I a monster, then?"

Glancing up abruptly, eyes wide, Wally shook his head, "No, no, not at all. You are _not_ a monster."

"What's the difference?" Tara demanded.

"You don't have a choice," Wally answered immediately.

Tara threw her hands in the air, "Neither do you! You're in the same position I am!"

"No," Wally said, eyes impossibly said, that almost-pity look in his eyes again, "I'm not. I'm here because it amuses them to have me here. I'm here so they can show that no one really escapes them. You're here because you're a powerful asset. They took the time to mold you into what they wanted. They've already tried that with me, and it didn't work."

Bringing her hands back down to clench at her sides, Tara hissed, "I don't have time for your holier than thou speech. I am going to my mission."

"Okay, Tara," Wally said tiredly, a sort of weariness to his shoulders that Tara had never seen before. He looked small and hopeless. Tara wanted to hug him. Tara wanted a hug, period.

Instead, she turned around and walked out the door, trying to keep her head held high despite the tears burning in her eyes. She was a powerful assassin. Slade would be greatly displeased if he saw her crying like a little girl. She wouldn't cry. She _wouldn't_. (If she pictured Wally's strong glare and set jaw as inspiration for the face she now wore when trying to not cry, then that was no one's business but her own).

She quickly made it to the hangar she was set to depart from. Slade was standing there next to a masked man who would likely be her driver for the mission. Slade looked her up and down critically. Tara held still as he looked, well-used to his critical glances by this point.

He didn't nod in approval when he found what he was looking for, but he didn't correct her either. She'd learned to take either as praise. Slade turned back to the driver, "Make sure that she is within view of your camera the entire time. This mission must be video-taped for Wally to understand his position here." The man nodded solemnly back and got into the front seat of the car without saying a word.

Slade turned to Tara and put a warm hand on her small shoulder, "I expect you to perform as usual on this mission, Terra. You know what standards I hold you to. I have no doubt that you will exceed them as always. You have your mission briefing. Just be prepared. There will be an… unexpected twist. Do not let it trip you up. This is a test – and not just for you. I am being tested as well."

Tara swallowed and nodded. It was never good when the two of them were being tested. Tara herself was used to being tested on a fairly regular basis, but when Slade was being tested? It usually meant that something was wrong. Of course, at this point in time, it could simply be the higher-ups testing whether he'd be able to continue handling her with the addition of Wally into their dynamic. Tara wasn't sure if that was the reason, though.

Not that she was ever told the reason. She knew better than to ask, too. All she could do is perform to the best of her abilities and hope it was enough. So far, she'd always passed these tests. She didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't.

With a parting nod, Slade turned on his heel and stalked away. Tara climbed quietly into the car, settling her bag on the seat next to her. She shouldn't need most of the supplies in there, but it was always better safe than sorry.

The car ride took almost four hours, but Tara was used to long waits in the car or plane to get to her missions. Whatever group she worked for, it was certainly a global one. It was funny; she'd always wanted to travel the world. This wasn't exactly the _reason_ she'd been expecting when she was a kid, but did it really matter? She was still traveling the world. She wondered if Wally had dreams of traveling the world. How many countries had he visited? Did he commit crimes in all of them like she did?

Shaking the thoughts away, Tara slipped out of the car silently, not even bothering to acknowledge the driver. He wouldn't acknowledge her back. No need to set herself up for disappointment.

Creeping through the quiet forest, Tara narrowed her eyes when she saw a camera ahead of her. She'd been warned that there were several cameras and safety measures set up in the woods around the house she was aiming for, but she hadn't been expecting to run into them so soon. That was… inconvenient. Was this part of her test?

Tara pursed her lips and allowed the circle of earth she was standing on to lift up into the air, flying up and up and up until she was at the top of the tree line. Narrowing her eyes, she peeked slowly over the top of the tree she was crouched in. There shouldn't be any detection devices up there. This man was expecting normal enemies, not metahumans. He would have detectors in the air and detectors on the ground, but hopefully not ones in the middle. If she stayed crouched over the trees and did her best to avoid knocking leaves or branches to the ground, she should remain undetected.

Seeing no cameras from where she was, Tara continued moving forward. She moved the piece of earth she was crouched over further and further into the forest, stopping only when she got to a large open clearing. In the center of the clearing sat an enormous house. There were obvious cameras surrounding the area, covering every bit of the grounds.

From this point forward, she wasn't going to remain detected. There was nothing she could do about that. That meant that she had to move fast. Disable the guards. Make sure the cameras don't see her face. Kill the target. Simple.

Tara decided to take care of steps one and two at the same time. If she took out the cameras, it would draw the guards out of hiding. Closing her eyes and doing her absolute best to remember where the information packet said all the cameras were, Tara raised her hands, tens of fist-sized clumps of earth rising with them. She kept her eyes closed as she thrust her hands outwards. All around the clearing, cameras were smashed into by large clumps of hard soil. She could hear them all breaking from where she was. Perfect.

It only took seconds for guards to come streaming out of the house, a few even running in from the surrounding forest. Idiots. Of course, she had to assume that they were smart enough to have at least left some guards with the target, but still. Idiots.

With barely a thought, she leapt to the ground, rolling with the impact and coming up swinging. She launched earth and fists and feet at her opponents, rolling and punching and kicking. These two-bit thugs weren't going to get past her. She'd trained better than that.

This part of missions always appealed to her. It had been scary at first, but there had been an undeniable thrill that had always thrummed under her skin. When the missions started getting darker and more awful, she'd learned to allow that thrill to come to the forefront. If she enjoyed this part of the mission, it made the rest a little less awful.

She was breathing hard by the time she managed to get through the horde of guards. There had been more of them than she'd been told. Probably another part of the test. Maybe. Hopefully. If they were being fed incorrect information by someone else, there were bigger problems than just a simple test.

But, so far, she was pretty sure she'd passed. Pretty sure.

Jogging lightly, Tara reflexively kept her head down in case she missed out on any cameras. She ran around the house, raising huge columns of stone to cover all the exits except the one she planned to use to get in. Slade had told her to make sure that whoever came across this crime scene knew it was a meta who did it.

Once all the exits were blocked, Tara looked at the front door, her chosen entry point. Show time.

She jogged inside, absentmindedly smashing through the doors with a block of earth. Might as well cause some more destruction while she was at it. She moved silently up the stairs, listening for the quiet sounds of panicking. Looks like the target realized that he had no escape. Tara felt a piece of her die at the sick feeling of twisted pride at the thought. This wasn't right.

It didn't matter, Tara told herself fiercely. What was wrong with her? She'd learned better than to let herself think during moments like this! She knew that if she allowed herself to think and feel then she'd fail and there was nothing worse than failing Slade. She had learned long ago how to shut off her emotions and fall into mission mode.

Taking a deep breath, Tara made it to the second floor landing and crept through the hallway silently, aiming for the door that was between her and her target. Once she was standing in front of it, she straightened her back and put her hand out. An enormous chunk of rock flew through the house, crashing into walls and tearing the stairs apart. She could hear the screaming from inside the room. She pulled the rock to stand at attention in front of her. With a flick of her wrist, it smashed through the door, creating a gaping hole in the wall and flattening two guards at the same time.

Her target stared at her, eyes wide, hands shaking. _Weak_.

Tara took one step forward and –

Was caught.

Who grabbed her? Kicking out, Tara tried to escape. The hands around her tightened and a voice whispered in her ear, "I'd stop moving if I were you. Deathstroke must have warned you this was a test. Stay still. I wouldn't want to have to hurt you."

"Shade?" Tara asked. Why was _he_ here? Last she'd heard, Slade had been arrested. When was he freed? Why was he interfering with her mission? What could all of this have to do with a test? Were they testing her loyalty?

Her answer came a second later. She wished she hadn't asked.

There was a line of lightning as something rushed into the room, a huge puff of wind throwing Tara's short hair back. The line of lightning solidified into a human form just as the person tripped and crashed to the ground.

Wally groaned, "Really, Slade? You really had to turn my powers off without warning me? If I hadn't already been slowing down, I'd have hit the floor at several hundred miles per hour. Then how would you have felt?"

Tara stared at him, eyes wide and shocked, "_Wally_?"

He whipped his head up to look at her. His jaw clenched and his hands formed tight fists at his sides. It was definitely him, but his face was half covered by a weird mask that Tara couldn't quite make out in the darkness of the room. Wally said, somewhat desperately, "I'm sorry, Tara. They… they said that if I didn't make this kill, then…"

"They will kill me," She finished, feeling oddly calm. She didn't understand why he came here. Maybe he was trying to save her in the last moment. He certainly wasn't going to become a monster for her. She was going to die. Or maybe they would kill him first. Now that she had seen a fraction of his powers for the first time, she wasn't quite sure which of the two of them would be more beneficial to their owners.

Wally's eyes were wide and a little wild around the edges. His chest was heaving. He'd clutched at it like someone had just attempted to take his heart. Then he closed his eyes and growled, "Screw this."

He ran forward, straight towards Tara and Shade. He made it three steps before he collapsed, whining into the ground as his limbs twitched pitifully. The target was watching the whole situation with wide-eyes, unable to escape but obviously not sure what else to do.

Wally punched the floor in frustration before pushing himself up with a fist. There were actual, genuine tears in his eyes as glared out at the world at large. Snarling, he got to his feet, fists shaking in rage at his sides. Eyes dark, Wally turned and stalked towards the target.

Tara's eyes widened. What… what was he doing?

Wally and the target locked eyes for a moment, fury racing like lightning through Wally's while the target's were bright with fear. There was a charge in the air, the electric feeling of a crossroads with no good path.

Wally brought a knife out of his pocket and slit the target's throat in one clean move. He stared dispassionately down at the body as the target choked on his blood, quickly dying. When the body stopped twitching, Wally turned back to face Tara and Shade. He clutched the knife, eyes still flashing with the lightning. He growled, low and deep in his throat, "Let her go."

Shade released her quickly. Tara leapt over the rubble in front of her, easily moving to stand next to Wally. She stared up at him with wide eyes as her fingers unwillingly gripped his bicep. Shade raised his hands in a peace gesture and slowly opened a portal behind him, "I'm supposed to bring you two back to base."

Wally didn't respond. Instead, he just stalked forward, stepping right through the portal without any words. Tara followed quickly, still keeping hold of his bicep.

She let it go quickly when they got through the portal to see Slade standing there with his arms crossed. He smirked at the two of them, "Debrief now."

Wally snarled, "Screw you." He threw the bloody knife at Slade's feet and stalked away, no care at all.

Slade's lips twitched upwards in amusement. He turned to Tara, "You two will have your debrief tomorrow morning. Let him have his little bit of rebellion. I would rather this happens than have him completely rise against us." He paused to put a hand on Tara's shoulder, "You did well."

Tara almost melted with relief, giving him a small smile before turning and hurrying away towards her and Wally's rooms. When she got there, the door to Wally's room was open, light spilling out of the bathroom. She edged around the door to find him scrubbing intensely at his still shaking hands.

Carefully, Tara set her smaller hand on one of his. She grabbed the hand and gently started cleaning the blood off of it. Once they were clean, she found a washcloth and cleaned his face and neck area off. He'd already taken off his shirt and his pants were luckily blood-free.

Once he was fully cleared of blood, Tara set down the cloth and pulled him carefully out to her room. She sat him down at the dining table where there was already a meal waiting, just like there was after all of her missions. It scared her how silent he was. This wasn't one of his spacing-out things, but it definitely wasn't normal behavior either.

She started eating, relief flooding through her when he started doing the same a moment later. After a long moment with only the sounds of eating shared between them, Tara asked quietly, "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Wally asked, voice tired. It wasn't the scary, flat tone he'd been using with Shade and Slade, thankfully.

Tara swallowed, "Why did you kill that man?"

"Why wouldn't I? They were going to kill you, Tara," Wally answered. He paused before admitting, "You're right. We are in the same situation. We have to do what we have to do. I know that. I _know_ that. I just – keep picturing the look on Captain Cold's face when he finds out. And, yes, I know that most of the Rogues have killed before, but… that was _before_ they were Rogues. I… it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."

Tara looked up at him from under her lashes, "I still don't understand, Wally. You – you didn't want to kill. You didn't _have_ to kill. You could have let them kill me."

"No, I couldn't have," Wally said.

Tara shook her head, "Why?"

Sighing, Wally set his fork down on the table, eyes closed, "I'm selfish, Tara. I am selfish and I'm scared. I care about you. You're just a kid. Maybe if I was better, I would have been able to escape with the two of us. Maybe if I cared a little more about my own sad attempt at morals, I wouldn't have killed that man. But I'm selfish. You might own me, but I've claimed you as one of mine. That means I'm going to protect you. Sure, that's a weakness. I don't care. I would rather protect you than protect my morals."

Tara swallowed. Then, slowly, for the first time since they met, she walked around the table and hugged Wally. She hadn't really hugged someone in a long, long time. But she fell back into the feeling like it had happened just yesterday. She closed her eyes as his arms wrapped around her.

They sat there for a long time, arms wrapped around each other, taking strength from each other.

DDDDDD

Dick narrowed his eyes at the destroyed house in front of him. He scratched the back of his neck as Conner winced at the sight of it. From behind them, Artemis sighed, "This was definitely Tara, wasn't it?"

"Almost certainly," Dick sighed back.

"Whose house is this?" Conner asked, walking towards the gaping hole that had probably been a front door at some point.

"A guy called Simon Stagg. He was a rich guy. Ironically, the Justice League was just about to run an operation to get him in jail. He was operating a metahuman trafficking ring. Whoever Tara's working for got to him first, though," Dick answered, following after Conner.

Artemis scowled, "That makes no sense. We were under the assumption that Tara was taken by the same people who are involved in all of these metahuman trafficking groups. Why would they attack him?"

"My guess?" Dick said, grimacing as he saw the smears of blood laying across several of the surfaces of the master bedroom, "They figured out that the League was going after him and decided to take him out first. Make sure he doesn't talk."

"Yikes," Artemis muttered.

Dick snorted, "Yeah." He pulled up his wrist computer and entered a command. A scanner popped out, running over the room quickly and efficiently. A single spot pinged. Carefully, he walked over to the wall and plucked a tiny, _tiny_ little bug off it. Grinning, he asked rhetorically, "What do we have here?" The other two leaned over to look as he started hooking up his wrist hologram to the bug, "It's a tiny camera. All the other cameras were taken out, but they must have missed this one. It's small enough that there probably isn't any sound, but we'll see what we can get from the video."

He finished plugging it in and pressed play. He quickly skipped to the part where the door was blown inwards. Dick winced when he saw Tara walk in. Yeah, there was no denying that. That was _definitely _Tara. Yikes.

Dick, Conner, and Artemis all jerked in surprise when Shade appeared behind Tara, grabbing her carefully. Their eyes widened when she went limp and compliant in his grasp. What was going on?

Then there was a streak of lightning and Dick felt his heart stop. That… that was a speedster. Who had a speedster? What was going on? He felt his eyes widened as the figure (the person was wearing a half-mask, but Dick could see pale skill and the bright red hair and something in him broke a little further) took a few steps towards Tara before collapsing. Artemis grabbed Dick's shoulders, fingernails digging into the suit there.

The speedster turned around and walked to the other side of the room, quickly slitting Stagg's throat. Dick winced at the sight. Then Tara, the speedster, and Shade walked into the portal and there was nothing else.

Dick tried to control his breathing and keep his voice even as he asked, "Did you two also see a red-haired speedster?"

Artemis and Conner exchanged worried looks, but both still answered, "Yes."

Dick's fingers shook, "Why… why haven't we heard of any new speedsters? We would have heard of new speedsters, wouldn't we?"

"Nightwing," Artemis murmured slowly, "Speculating about this doesn't help right now. We've gotten all we could get from the crime scene. Let's go back. We can talk about this later, okay? Not right now. _Please_, Nightwing."

"Okay," Dick answered, voice even and flat. Conner winced at the sound.

Dick allowed the two to drag him out of the building and back to Sphere. He let them bring him back to Conner and M'gann's house. He let them explain the situation to M'gann while he sat nursing a mug of hot chocolate.

It wasn't Wally. It couldn't be Wally. It _couldn't_ be.

(Please let it be).


	4. Chapter 4

WWWWWW

Wally could barely keep his anger and disgust contained when he and Tara were called into a meeting room for their first official partner debriefing. He was practically shaking with his rage as they made first Tara and then him carefully, concisely, and accurately report back the 'mission.' He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to explain how he _killed_ someone. He didn't want to think about what he'd done. He knew that it was his best option. He knew that that didn't matter in his head. He just wanted to be alone to deal with it for a little while. Slade wouldn't let that happen.

Wally wasn't stupid. He could see what Slade was doing. With Tara, they'd been able to take a simpler approach. They separated her from everything she knew, gave her powers that she could not control without help, and then they had Slade 'rescue' her from that by taking her under his wing. They made it so Slade was her only emotional contact, her only possible crutch. They made her reliant on him.

That wasn't such a simple option with Wally. He was a lot older than Tara was. He wasn't going through such an abrupt lifestyle change. He already knew about the Light and their little shop of horrors. So, Slade and whoever was in charge had to take a different approach. They'd had to give Wally a reason to stay – Tara – and a motivation to do their bidding – fear of the lab _and_ need to protect Tara. That's why they had made his room a direct offshoot of hers. It was why she was his only contact outside of Slade. It was why they made her go back to her room when she was fresh off a mission, so he could see her in distress.

So, Wally knew exactly how Slade was manipulating him. He just didn't know how to stop it. The worst part was, Wally _knew_ that Slade had come to that conclusion. There was no way that Slade didn't know that Wally had figured it all out and was helpless to stop it.

What Slade didn't know, though, was that he was walking a fine line. Although Wally wasn't helpless with his powers trapped by the collar, he was certainly not up to Slade's standards. That meant that Slade believed that Wally was next to harmless when he was leashed up. But Wally _wasn't_ harmless. His powers were stronger than ever – he'd figured that out when he ran to Tara's location during the mission and had gotten there faster than he could have ever imagined. He might even be as fast as the Flash at that point. He was certainly faster than Bart. Most importantly, though, was the fact that his powers were linked to his emotions. The stronger of a feeling he felt, the stronger his powers got. Even that moment when he hadn't been able to just take Tara and run, he'd been so mad that he could _feel_ the power activating under his skin.

He hadn't been mad enough to fully break through the wall around his powers, though. Luckily for him, Slade seemed determined to hurt and mock and belittle Wally at every turn. All he was doing was making Wally angrier and angrier. And, at some point, he was going to explode. And Slade would be the first one he went after.

"You look dumb just glaring at the wall like that," Tara sighed. Their relationship hadn't changed much after Tara hugged him the night before, but it was certainly less strained and awkward.

Wally tried to wipe the glare off his face as he turned to Tara, "I never look dumb. I'm too handsome to look dumb." Tara just rolled her eyes at him and gently flicked to the next page in her book. Wally kept trying to convince her to bring books back for him since he couldn't go to the library on his own, but so far, no dice.

After a moment of silence, Tara licked her lips and admitted, "You probably won't have to, um, kill again for a while. I don't really get sent on that many assassination jobs. And they'll probably take your criminal skills into consideration when assigning us jobs."

"Oh yeah?" Wally asked, amused, "You ready to steal stuff from a museum or something? We would make a great criminal partnership."

Tara glanced over at him, "Do you really enjoy stealing that much?"

"Absolutely," Wally answered, "It's a lot more fun than it seems. But you've got to be the kind of person who enjoys planning things out and going over things in meticulous details. It's a big, huge, giant puzzle, honestly. If you like adrenalin rushes, hate listening to dumb rules, and enjoy mentally challenging situations, being a criminal is the life for you." He finished it off with a dopey grin just for the fun of it.

Tara giggled, "You are ridiculous. Honestly. Who enjoys being chased and defeated by heroes?"

"Defeated?" Wally asked, putting a hand to his chest dramatically, "I have never been defeated!"

"You have never once gone to jail?" Tara asked dubiously.

Wally wrinkled his nose, "Okay, so, I was technically captured by heroes twice but that was in my first year of being a villain! I feel justified."

"Yeah, whatever," Tara dismissed, "My point still stands. Who would want to be defeated and captured by heroes? Especially when the heroes are obviously so much better than you."

"They are not!" Wally said, mock affronted. He knew that there were definitely heroes out there that were better than him, but he also knew that he was better than a lot of heroes. He was one of the Flash's main opponents. That was a prestigious position in the criminal underworld.

Tara paused before asking, "Do you hate heroes?"

"No way," Wally answered instantly, before amending, "Well, I guess I did, at some points of my life. Being a villain or a hero basically equals tragic back story and, well, no matter which one you end up, there's a point where you wish a hero would come and save you. Heroes save themselves and villains give up on being saved, I think. But during that time, there's a little bit of hatred towards heroes. And when you're just starting out, there's maybe a little bit of fear. Plus, in the beginning, I had a real complicated relationship with the Flash. That was a mess. But, well, I don't hate them anymore. I'm actually really good friends with some of them." Well, he was more than friends with a couple – Flash and Impulse were actual, legitimate family and Nightwing was his boyfriend, but Wally was fairly certain that the Light didn't know that, and he wasn't stupid enough to think that Tara and his rooms weren't monitored.

"How can you be friends with heroes?" Tara asked, that incredulous note back in his voice.

Wally shrugged, "I think that's more of a Rogue thing, honestly. We're pretty big on the whole interconnected thing. A hero isn't a real hero without a villain – or a team of villains. And a criminal isn't a villain unless they've got a hero. Plus, the Flash is cool, you know? He's a nice guy and all that. And we're not horrible people to be around either."

"The Rogues… sound really nice," Tara admitted.

"They are. They're a little brash and a little cold at the start, but once you worm your way in, you're stuck. They're… family," Wally answered, trying to swallow down the sudden rush of homesickness. He was _not_ going to sit here and cry at the thought of his family. It was fine. He was going to get out.

Tara opened her mouth to ask something else, but the door banged open, startling the two of them. Wally blanched when he realized who was standing there, slightly behind an emotionless Slade.

Luthor smiled at him, slow and relaxed, "Hello, Wally."

Wally snarled. Without thinking about where he was or the situation he was in or how he was better than this or the device around his neck, Wally lunged forward, determined to, at the very least, land a hit. Instead, the inhibitor color lit up and shocked him, sending him tumbling to his knees as electricity race through him, stronger than usual inhibitor collars. They probably knew that he could take that level of shock.

He was still on his knees, fingers twitching uselessly against the ground, when Luthor took a few steps closer, looming over him. Abruptly, Luthor crouched down. Carefully, he grabbed Wally's chin in his hands and tilted his head one way and then the next. Wally _seethed_, but his muscles were still twitching in agony and he could do nothing but let it happen.

Luthor leaned in closer and whispered in Wally's ear, "Now, I know that Slade likes his little pet rock, but I like my pet project more _and_ I have seniority over him. If you misbehave right now, or do anything I don't want you to, I will make sure she _hurts_. Alright?"

Wally grit his teeth, impotent anger rising in him again. Inwardly, he urged Luthor on. _Do it. Make me angrier. I _dare_ you._ Outwardly, all he did was nod, carefully, hating the feeling of Luthor's fingers on his skin.

"Good," Luthor announced, standing up and brushing his knees off as if Tara would ever let her room be dirty. He offered a hand to Wally. Wally ignored it, painfully pushing himself to his feet and stepping back, closer to Tara. Sure, he had to behave to protect Tara, but that didn't mean that he had to play _all_ of Luthor's little games.

Unfortunately, his act of rebellion did nothing but amuse Luthor, who simply gave Wally an indulgent smile before turning his attention onto Tara, "And you must be Princess Tara Markov. I have heard quite a lot about you. You're very much the accomplished assassin from what I've heard. And your powers are… simply magnificent. You must be very grateful to have received them." He paused, but all Tara did was gave him a tremulous smile and glance over at Slade desperately. Luthor clearly noted the interaction, but chose to ignore it, forging on, "I was quite pleased to hear that Wally would be your partner. Wally has been a favorite of mine since, well, since he was a little kid, honestly." Wally's fists clenched and he tried to keep himself still. How _dare_ Luthor?

Hesitantly, at Slade's prompting, Tara asked, "Since he was a kid?"

Luthor set hooded eyes on Wally, making sure their eyes met when he said, "Yes, when his father sold him to me. He was, oh, eleven? Don't worry, though. I won't fight you for custody. I got what I needed from him when he willingly came back to me. And then I got even more when my scientists found him a year ago. Of course, if he ever wanted a change of pace, I would certainly welcome him back."

Wally struggled for his control, slipping back into his negotiation mask, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not quite bored yet."

Luthor smirked at him, easily recognizing the mask Wally wore, "That is understandable. Well, if you ever get _bored_ of the assassin life, Slade knows how to get in touch with me. As for right now," Luthor sighed dramatically, causing Wally to twitch in irritation, "I have your next mission."

"What?" Wally asked incredulously, "Tara always get at least a day after the mission to recover."

"Tara also has a partner now. Don't interrupt," Slade growled. Tara straightened her back and tried to hide her confusion and fear. Wally's heart hurt for her.

Luthor watched the interaction play out but didn't comment. He gestured towards the screen in the room as it turned on, displaying a complicated blueprint. Wally's eyebrows rose incredulously, "That's the Detroit STAR Labs."

Slade looked at him sharply, but Luthor simply seemed amused, "Oh? And how would you know that?"

Wally scowled, "Dr. Silas Stone is, like, the top STAR Labs scientists. He's published a lot of _really_ good literature."

Luthor smiled, "Yes, exactly. Unfortunately, we have no interest in him receiving a _particular_ piece. I am certain he would be able to publish many interesting things with it, but, well, Savage has decided that Dr. Stone – and the world – is not ready for it."

Wally's scowl deepened, "Cut the dramatic speeches. Get to the main point. You want us to steal this item. What is it? When is it going to be there? What are the security measures? You always used to just give me a mission briefing. Let's go back to that."

Slade bristled, but Luthor just laughed, long and loud. Did _nothing_ get to that man? Luthor finally calmed down and turned back to Wally, "Of course, what was I thinking? It's been too long since I worked with a speedster – I'd forgotten how impatient you are. I have the mission briefings here. Now," And here he finally became serious, showing that this was genuinely a mission that they felt was important enough to put Wally and Tara on, "unfortunately we haven't been able to get you a lot of time. The information about this item has been hard to come by. We only recently learned who was making the drop-off to Dr. Stone and when. You have only seven hours, much of which will be spent traveling, until the item needs to be taken. I want you to steal the item back _before_ Dr. Stone leaves for the night."

Wally grimaced, speed-reading through the briefing he was given, "I could do this, but I can't do it and maintain my 'dead' state. If someone sees a red-headed speedster using Rogue techniques to steal an item? Not going to be a very hard leap of logic."

"You will be in costume," Luthor responded.

Wally wrinkled his nose at the insinuation, "I don't like having my hair covered."

"We could dye it," Luthor suggested, obviously amused.

Less than a second later, Slade threatened, "We could shave it off."

Wally sent an alarmed look towards Slade before focusing on Luthor, "How much time would die take?"

"We could do it on the plane. You would be able to plan and prepare and get your hair dyed at the same time. And although we wouldn't shave it off, it will have to be styled differently," Luthor said, lips curving back up into that infuriating grin.

Carefully, Wally reached up and fingered his hair. He really, really liked his hair. Like, a lot. He liked the style and he liked the color. He didn't want to change it. But he also _really_ hated cowls that covered his hair. This was a stupid thing to get worked up over, but… still… Wally sighed, putting his hand back down and surrendering, "Fine. I'll let you do whatever you want to my hair. But I keep it free."

"Perfect," Luthor said, clapping his hands together because he was that much of a cliché, "Your new suit is on the plane. Your regular suit is there as well, Tara. I must ask that you avoid visual detection as much as possible. The new haircut will help but, as you pointed out, Wally, you will be using Rogue tactics. Most people would not be able to recognize that, but some will be able to. I wish to avoid that at all costs. Alright, you have ten minutes to get to the plane in hangar one. Good luck on your mission." Wally nodded to him distractedly, already looking through the briefing in more detail.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wally could see Slade _fuming_. The man was obviously not pleased to have Luthor butting in on his conquest. Wally briefly wondered what Slade's position actually was. Luthor had mentioned having seniority over Slade, not a higher ranking. Had Slade managed to get to the Light's main council? When had that happened? Still, that had to make it even worse for Slade. As a member of the main council, he should have been exempt from this sort of interference by other council members. That was his mistake, though. Wally realized, even while he was working for the Light, that the one thing that could distract Luthor from the Light's mission was Wally. Why? He wasn't entirely certain. He didn't understand what was so fascinating, so useful about him, that Luthor was willing to alienate all the other members of the Light.

The two Light members finally left, and Tara tugged on Wally's arm, "Come on, we have to go."

"Yeah, okay," Wally said, drifting in the direction that Tara was pulling him. He could see her roll her eyes, but she didn't say anything, choosing to instead just lead him through the hallways.

They made it easily to the plane and quickly got in. Wally made a face at the hairdressers that greeted him. They shifted nervously in front of him. Eventually, Wally sighed and plopped into a seat, "Go ahead. Do whatever you need to do. Tara, sit in front of me, I need to run you through your parts of the mission."

"Don't I get a say?" Tara grumbled.

Wally grinned at her, "No way. I'm mission head. I love running missions. But that means I do the research – or, in this case, get the information – and then I design the heist and give you your instructions."

"Fine," Tara said, "Just give me a moment." She moved over to the bathroom of the plane, grabbing what had to be her suit on the way over. It didn't take her long to change and then came back out and sat where Wally indicated, "Alright, what will I do?"

Wally grinned again and started outlining the plan he'd come up with. It was definitely rough and not his best work, but he'd been out of the game for two years by this point and had little to no warning and less information than he would have wanted.

While he spoke, he could feel the hairdressers working on his hair, slowly but surely destroying it. This was genuinely traumatizing. Well, it was better than being bald. When the hairdressers deemed him ready, two hours or so into the plane ride, Wally nodded to them and grabbed his own suit. He quickly went into the bathroom to get changed.

His hair… didn't look _completely _awful. It certainly wasn't the color he'd been expecting. It was a light caramel color that went well enough with his eyes even if it didn't look the greatest with his pale skin. The haircut itself was… manageable. It was very, very short which Wally wasn't too thrilled about, but that was alright. It was an almost militaristic hairstyle, but the hair was just a little too long to really be a military haircut. Wally… didn't like it.

Ignoring it for the time being, Wally took a deep breath in and put on his suit. It wasn't anything special. Skintight, black material. It felt like the stuff his suits were normally made of, the stuff that could handle the speeds he moved at. There was a bit of bulk at the shoulders, presumably to help disguise his appearance. The boots were actually quite nice. They were a perfect fit and felt sturdy and flexible at the same time even as they added a bit of a lift – probably for hiding his identity again. The entire thing was inky black, no hint of a shiny button or a light highlight. Even the mask was fully black.

The mask was one that sealed tightly around his head with a medium sized band. The actual mask itself covered his entire face. It was a sturdy, deceptively thick fabric that molded to the shape of his face, covering all of the available skin as the band wrapped around his head just over his ears. Through his reflection in the mirror, Wally could see that there were no eyeholes or nose- or mouth-holes in the mask. It was completely sealed. But inside the mask, there was some sort of tech over his eyes that allowed him to see through it, stats and infographics appearing at the sides of his vision. The mask was more breathable than it looked, allowing him air even without the usual openings. All in all, it was really, really creepy looking.

Giving himself one last glance-over, Wally shivered. He didn't look like a Rogue. He didn't even look like an assassin. He looked like a _monster_.

Shaking the thought away, Wally stepped back and sighed.

He left the background and sat down in front of Tara. She gaped at him, "How do you even _breathe_?"

"It's shockingly easy to breathe through," Wally answered. Tara shuddered a little bit. Wally frowned, "What?"

Tara shook her head, "It's really nothing. Just… your mask doesn't move when you talk. It's really, really creepy."

Sighing, Wally responded sardonically, "Thanks." Tara shrugged unrepentantly at him.

Settling back in his seat, Wally looked over the notes he'd made about the mission he was doing. It was going to be interesting with the inhibitor collar on and someone who was entirely unused to stealing like a Rogue, but he thought they could make it work. He hoped so at least.

DDDDDD

Dick fidgeted in his seat and tapped the table. He didn't know why he was so nervous. This was a dumb thing to be nervous over. Still, it didn't stop the anxiety.

Across from him, Len was obviously doing his very best to not lose his temper with Dick. His eyelid was twitching, and his hands were slowly clenching more and more around the beer in his hand. Dick tried to stop being so fidgety.

Of course, all of this would be easier if Barry had just shown up on time. Was it too much to ask that he show up to a meeting at the correct time at least once in his life? Was it?

Apparently, those were the magic thoughts because Barry vibrated straight through the front door seconds later, only a half an hour late to the meeting. Len sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in agitation, "Barry. Please, _please_ stop vibrating through the door. Knock. Ring the doorbell. _Pick the lock and walk through_, if you have to. Just _stop_ vibrating through it."

"I will do my best to remember," Barry threw back, though Dick knew he'd been saying something similar for almost four years by that point. Barry turned to Dick, "Sorry for the wait, kiddo. The twins did _not_ want me to leave."

"How are the little ones?" Mick grunted, nursing his own beer.

Barry groaned, dramatically flopping onto a nearby seat, "So cute, but so crazy. I feel bad every time I leave Iris with them because she can't run after them, you know? And, like, they're not _super_ fast compared to me or Bart or even Jay, but for Iris or Joan? Not fun. She's so good about it though. And Bart comes over to babysit _all the time_. He does keep calling them 'Dad' and 'Aunt Dawn' though, which is a little uncomfortable."

Dick snorted, "He still calls them that after two years?"

"Right?" Barry said, throwing his hands up, "It's ridiculous!"

Sam sighed, "What are you here for, Dick? You haven't bothered being around in a very long time."

"Sam," Len warned, glaring at him over the top of his bottle. Dick swallowed slightly, knowing from Barry's warnings that the Rogues were a little volatile at the moment. Sam glared back at Len but didn't say anything.

Dick took a deep breath before admitting, "We have… a piece of _loose_ evidence that… that Wally could be alive."

The room froze. Not literally. Len's ice gun was far from his reach and Cameron certainly wasn't home, but the atmosphere of the room was frozen. Barry was gaping at Dick, eyes wide and hands vibrating slightly. Mick had to slowly put down his drink, his intense gaze fixed on Dick. Sam's fists clenched and he glared at Dick.

Len didn't react at all, though. He remained as completely emotionless as usual, only asking lightly, "And what evidence would that be?"

Dick pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons. A holographic screen popped up out of the phone and Dick quickly pulled up the video he got from Stagg's house. He pressed play and watched the others' reactions.

They gasped when a speedster raced into the room. They jerked forward when the speedster was dropped to his knees from some sort of shock collar. They winced when the speedster slit Stagg's throat. They slumped when the speedster stepped into the portal and was gone.

It was Barry who spoke first, "As much as I want to believe this is – is Wally, I can't just believe that. I _can't_ do that to myself. Especially after…" He trailed off but looked at Dick meaningfully. Dick winced when he realized that Barry was alluding to Dick's own spiral in the first year after Wally's supposed death. The Rogues glanced at them curiously, obviously not knowing what dark path Dick had gone down.

Dick centered himself and was proud when his voice came out steady, "I know. Trust me when I say I know. I compared sizes of the room to the size of the speedster and I got the dimensions. He's almost the exact same dimensions as Wally. He's a bit thinner, but other than that, he's a match. The skin tone is a match to the last picture I have. The hair color is an exact match which you know is odd since his hair was almost unnaturally bright red."

Sam scowled, "So, someone got a skinny Wally look-a-like, dyed their hair the same color as his, and sent him on his way. What's your point?"

"He has superspeed, Sam. What are the odds that these people could find a person that is _that_ similar to Wally and also has superspeed?" Dick pressed.

Shaking his head, Sam muttered, "Whatever. I don't have time for your crazy."

Mick snorted, "Really? I wouldn't be able to tell. It's not like you do anything. You certainly haven't been pulling your share of heists."

Sam took two steps forward, obviously ready to fight but Len stood up, directly in the middle of the two. He glared at both of them, "Sam. If you're not going to contribute anything, get out. Mick. Stop antagonizing him." Sam didn't respond, instead just stomping away.

Barry ignored the byplay, turning desperately to Dick, "How would it be possible, though? You… you researched _everything_. How could he have been alive?"

"I don't know," Dick said, "But I intend to find out. My priority, though, is finding out if this is really him. And if it is him, then where he is."

"Any leads on that front?" Len drawled.

Dick frowned, "A few. You see that girl he's with? It's suspected she was taken three years ago from her family by the big metahuman smuggling ring that's been active recently. I suspect that, beyond that, it was the Light that took her. My guess is that this metahuman slavery ring is run by the Light and that the ring has Wally. I don't know if they know who he is or how they found him or where he is in the organization."

Len stared at the image captured on the screen – a comparison of the sizes of Wally and the mystery speedster. Mick looked over at him, quiet concern radiating out of him. Eventually, Len looked back up at Dick, "I'll look into it." Dick let out a quiet breath of relief, but Len started talking before he could leave, "But know this: if this turns out to be a false lead and you've gotten our hopes up for no reason… there will be consequences."

Dick shivered at the implications; eyes wide. He nodded back quickly. Len stared at him for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. Dick stooped up and quickly left, Barry trailing behind him.

Once they got out, Dick breathed out a sigh of relief, "Is it just me or has Len gotten scarier since I last saw him?"

Barry patted Dick's back consolingly, "I mean, it's been two years since you last saw him. But yes, he's gotten scarier. He… didn't take Wally's death well. Not that any of them did, obviously. But between Wally's death and everyone else's messes and confusions and poor life decisions… he's hurting. And he's always been one to cover up hurt with ice."

Dick glanced over at Barry, "Do you think this is real? That Wally's really alive?"

Barry frowned slightly, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I mean… I want to. I want to _so bad_. But… I hate to keep bringing it up, but I don't want to fall down the same hole you did, Dick. I… you scared all of us. I can't do that. I have kids and my wife. I can't throw myself into a search that might mean nothing. But I also can't give up when Wally could be out there, hurting and alone. He's – he's my nephew. He meant the world to me. I don't know. I don't. You just threw this at me. I'm going to need a little bit of time to process. And tell Iris. God, I'm not threatening you like Len was, but I hope you're not wrong about this. It would _definitely_ not be your fault if you are, but… a _lot_ of people would be hurt."

"I know," Dick sighed, "I know. Trust me when I say I hope I'm right, too."


	5. Chapter 5

WWWWWW

Wally could tell immediately that something wasn't right – there was shouting in the designated room. Groaning dramatically, he spoke quietly into the headset, "Alright, we've hit our first roadblock, Terra. At least two people who are not security guards are in the room with the objective. One of the voices is definitely Dr. Stone. I recognize his voice from interviews I've watched him do. But I don't recognize the other voice. Either Dr. Stone is working on something else late or he already started work on the Fatherbox. We need to get the two of them out of the room. Can you create a distraction?"

"_I thought we weren't supposed to be seen?_" Tara asked hesitantly.

"Then don't be seen. Two rooms back there was an experiment in progress. Looks like some sort of chemistry experiment which means it really isn't going to react well to an earthquake. Hopefully, if you create a small earthquake – enough to be worrisome, but not enough to, like, kill us all or something, – he'll rush out of the room to deal with that and I can go in and see what's happening," Wally responded quickly. They needed to do this fast, before something went even more wrong than it already had.

Tara hesitated just a second more (no hesitation, trust the one running the heist, make decisions lightning fast because your opponent is going to be faster; Len's voice ran through Wally's head and he had to shake it to get the voice out) before saying, "_Got it_." Moments later, a small earthquake shuddered through the building.

Wally watched with a sort of dull interest as Dr. Stone rushed out of the room and into the room with the chemistry experiment, a tall, muscular teenager with a sleeveless hoodie (what was the point of a sleeveless hoodie? Also, where did he get it because Wally wanted one) trailing behind him, still shouting. The outfit told Wally that the teenager wasn't an intern, not if he was in one of the labs wearing a _sleeveless hoodie_, but it didn't tell him much else. Wally shrugged the thought away. It wasn't his problem.

Quickly, he snuck into the vacated room, using the cameras' blind spots to make sure there would be no record of him inside the building. He crept around the room, keeping low and to the edges, trying to move as quickly as possible without catching attention. He methodically checked each tabletop and cabinet for the Fatherbox. With luck, it would be locked away and Wally would just pick the lock and be off with it. If they were unlucky, then it would just be lying around which would mean that Dr. Stone had started researching and they'd need to destroy the research as well as take the Fatherbox.

And, of course, just as Wally thought that, he saw the Fatherbox. Lying on a counter, notes strewn all around it. There was a microscope powered up and a hefty computer buzzing, indicating that Dr. Stone had probably been researching this for a while. Wally resisted the urge to curse. Not good, not good.

There were two options now: he could try to grab everything right at that moment and hope that Dr. Stone and strange tall teenager didn't come back or he could wait until they came back, execute a different distraction technique, and take it then. If he had his speed and his usual team, the answer would be easy. He could speed run everything into the mirror dimension for Sam to pick up and then he'd be on his way with no one the wiser.

Wally didn't have his speed or his team, though. He had himself and Tara and that was going to have to be enough. Growling to himself, Wally melted back into the shadows, whispering into the comms device, "Terra, let me know when they're heading my way."

Not even thirty seconds later, Tara whispered urgently, "_They're heading back!_"

Wally settled in to wait, eyeing the door. It didn't take long for the two to come in, still arguing. Turns out that super tall teenager was Dr. Stone's son. Wally actually hadn't known that Dr. Stone had a son. He'd never mentioned a son before. Weird. Then again, that seemed to be what they were arguing about. Dr. Stone didn't really seem like the hands-on kind of parent. Yikes.

Dr. Stone's son (Victor?) delivered one last parting shot before sighing and walking away. He made it almost all the way out the door before Dr. Stone hung his head, sighed, and stood up, "Victor, wait."

And _that_ was when everything went all the way downhill.

Wally had been so focused on creeping closer to start grabbing things now that the two seemingly distracted themselves that he hadn't even seen what caused the explosion. All he knew was that one second everything was perfectly fine and normal. The next? A loud _boom_, fire racing towards him, the sight of everything moving in slow motion even when his body wouldn't react fast enough because of the _stupid_ collar.

In the end, Wally didn't get hit much by the flames. A shard of flaming plastic clipped his shoulder and a red-hot piece of metal slammed against his mask, not harming the tough material, but sliding off to scald across his ear. It was the table that did him in. The table that held the Fatherbox collapsed, landing almost fully on top of him, knocking the breath out of him and sending him crashing to the floor. Wally wheezed against the shock of it, trying to keep his tremulous breathing and small whimpers of pain quiet.

When his ears stopped ringing and the sound of glass shattering quieted, Wally realized that Tara was calling through the comms device, "_Tachyon! Tachyon! Are you alright? Tachyon! What is happening?_" Wally resisted the urge to growl at the name. It wasn't _bad_. It just wasn't _his_ name. It didn't _fit_ the same way Momentum did. Was this how Dick felt when he changed his name from Robin to Nightwing? Well, probably not since he actually got to choose that one. Wally shook his head, trying to focus.

Wally cleared his throat as quietly as he could before whispering back, "Terra, hush. I'm alright. I'm trapped in the room. I managed to slip a few pieces of research into my suit but not the Fatherbox. This is a bust at this point. Retreat back to the pickup point. I'll join as soon as possible. If I need help, I'll let you know. You know how to get back in. Go, Terra." She growled at him, low and stressed and _scared_, but didn't argue. Wally had to hope that she was getting out of there. Now he just needed to get himself out.

Wally was startled by the sound of running feet. It must have been the security guards. One of them shouted, "Over here!"

Vaguely, past the dust clouds and debris, Wally could see Dr. Stone being helped to his feet, answering some question curtly, "I'm fine! I'm fine. Wait… where's Victor?"

Wally winced. Yikes. If Victor wasn't already up, then there was a good chance that he wasn't getting up. Wally jolted in surprise when he heard another two voices coming from the other side of the room. He cursed silently when the jolt sent a heated metal leg sliding across the side of his neck. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed the movement.

He… was really stuck here. What was he supposed to do? There wasn't exactly a subtle way to get a table off of himself. And that's if the table could even be removed by a single person. He might be really trapped in there. Maybe he should call Tara back in, give up on not being seen. They could take the Fatherbox by force that way. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

The choice was made for him, unfortunately. The next thing he knew, Dr. Stone's hand was reaching through the pile of experiments and lab supplies clumped on the table just over Wally's face mask. Dr. Stone had just extracted the Fatherbox from the mess when his eyes met Wally's.

There was a suspended moment of horror where both of them didn't know how to react. Wally reacted first, but there wasn't a lot he could do. He hadn't done more than wiggle an inch or two out from under the table before Dr. Stone broke out of his stupor and yelled, "Guards! Guards! There's someone here!"

Wally cursed out loud that time, trying even harder to pull back. The guards reached him first. One of them quickly snapped a handcuff on one of Wally's free hands before using that to drag him forcefully out from under the table. Wally winced when the table briefly collapsed more fully onto his leg. Then he was pulled completely from the mess. The other guard was instantly on him, snapping a handcuff on his other hand. They dragged him up and over to where three scientists (three? What kind of trash info had Wally been given? He'd been told that there wouldn't be any scientists around at this time!) were huddled over something.

There was a muffled gagging noise from one of the guards when the thing was revealed. It was what was left of Victor. And there wasn't a lot. There was no way he was going to survive that. Wally was shocked that the teen was even still standing. Victor's remaining eyeball swiveled around to look at Wally, widening briefly in fear.

Ceasing his struggling in the face of something so horrible, Wally's heart went out to the teen. This was… not good. Then he saw what Dr. Stone was planning. Horrified, Wally cried, "Wait! You don't know what that's going to do to him!"

"And you do?" Dr. Stone sneered, "It's the only chance he has! I don't even know who you are!"

Wally started struggling against his captors, "At least try to be hygienic! He's going to get an infection if you just put something that's been sitting in soot and ash straight onto his chest cavity!" He knew that the Light had to be listening in. He knew that they knew that he could get away from these guards. If he really tried and if he called Tara in, he'd easily be able to get the Fatherbox and run. But…

This teen would die. He would die in horrible pain while his father watched. Wally couldn't let that happen. Not right after he killed someone. Not when the kid just wanted his father to pay attention to him. Not with Tara around, being influenced.

Dr. Stone, to his credit, didn't dither around at all. He immediately snapped on some sterile gloves and gave a brisk but thorough wipe down to the device. The two other scientists had donned their own gloves and grabbed some sterile tweezers. They were pulling out some of the larger pieces of debris, valiantly ignoring Victor's sharp shouts of pain. Wally thought he was going to be sick, watching it all.

Then Dr. Stone came back over, waving the others away and leaning over. He knelt in his son's blood pool, carefully placing the device directly in the middle of Victor's chest. They all held their breath when Dr. Stone stood back, the device just sitting there on Victor's chest. Was there an activation switch?

It was at that point that the device expanded into a mass of glowing red tentacles. Wally reared back, falling straight on his butt as the guards dropped him, just as shocked as he was. He should leave. He really should leave while they were distracted. But… but he _had_ to know what happened. He had to know if Victor would survive.

Once the device had finished surrounding Victor, the guards came back to themselves and quickly got him restrained, attaching him with his arms behind his back to a thick pole that he _definitely_ wouldn't be able to rip out of the wall. One of them kept a gun trained on him while the other went to assist the scientists. Wally watched in fascinated horror as they got EKG and EEG monitors attached to Victor. He watched in heartbreak when there was no activity on either. But if Victor was dead… what was the machine doing? Was it using his body as natural energy? Or was it harvesting the parts? Or was Victor less dead than he seemed?

Wally really, really needed to be escaping right about now.

While he waited for an update on what was happening with Victor, he quickly picked the locks of the handcuffs, leaving them lightly settled over the bar so someone giving it a quick check would believe that he was still trapped.

When they determined that Victor wasn't going to be doing anything for a while, they turned to Wally. The only one who wasn't staring right at him was the guy peering at the EKG and EEG monitors. The blond guard kicked at Wally's side, gesturing with his gun, "Who are you?"

Wally stayed silent. The Light had _not_ briefed him on what he could or could not say in the event of capture. Would it be so bad if he spoke? What if he got a message out? He needed it to be something innocuous enough that he wouldn't get these guys killed for hearing it but also informative enough that the important people would recognize it.

The people who were most likely to get this would be the Justice League which seriously decreased the chances of a code phrase being recognized. Sure, pretty much everyone in the Justice League knew _of_ him. Some even knew of his relationships with certain heroes. Very few actually knew _him_, though. And certainly not well enough to understand a coded phrase.

Who would understand? Barry, Bart, Dick, Roy, some of the other Team members, maybe? Jade? Maybe Bruce would be able to decode something? This _sucked_. Thinking quickly, Wally finally said, "I don't know how you guys can stand living in Detroit. It's almost as dangerous as Gotham. Then again, Gotham's got the scary old geezer Batman. Does Gotham even have a STAR Labs? They should really get on that." There. That was more than a little subtle, but it was all Wally could manage. Bruce knew that Wally called Batman 'the scary old geezer' whenever he wasn't in hearing range only because Jason found few things more thrilling than causing chaos. Bruce had also heard Wally's numerous complaints about the stupidity of putting a STAR Labs in Gotham. That was just _asking_ for maniacs to get their hands-on high-tech weaponry. It was a disaster in the making.

"Who _are_ you?" Blonde guy growled again.

"Well, I was trying to start a conversation, but I guess not. Is it too much to ask to get to know you a little before I start giving out names? Honestly, I've got trust issues and I'd like for you to respect my boundaries," Wally threw back, not really paying attention. The machine was blinking. That was worrying. Normally, the only things that blinked were bombs.

Then Dr. Stone said, voice filled with relief, "There, see?" He gestured slightly towards the monitor which showed the gentle thumping of a heartbeat. The heartbeat coincided exactly with the machine's blinking red light. Wally wasn't so sure that was a good thing.

The machine opened. Victor fell out. Wally's heart rate skyrocketed. This was always when the machine attacked in movies. But Victor wasn't attacking. He was just confused. The teen did a full-body flinch when he saw Wally chained to the pipe, "Who are you?"

"That seems to be the question of the hour," Wally responded with a smirk. Not that anyone could see it. He _hated_ this outfit.

Victor shook his head in confusion, "I… what? What happened to me? Did – did you do this?"

"Me?" Wally asked incredulously, "No, I most certainly did not. I've got no clue what caused the explosion and I did not put the Fatherbox in your chest."

"I did what I had to do to save you," Dr. Stone soothed, hands hovering over the new metal contours of his son's shoulder.

Victor shook his head vigorously, "Save me? _Save me_? I'm a monster! Look at me! You didn't save me! You turned me into a _monster_." His voice broke on the last word and Wally flinched slightly. He certainly knew that feeling.

Dr. Stone shook his head, "No, no, you are _not_ a monster. It's going to be okay, Victor. We're going to get through this."

Victor laughed hollowly, "No way. No. _We_ are not going to do anything. You – you… I bet you _wanted_ something like this to happen. I'm a monster now! A freak! Something for you to _experiment_ on! Was this what it was going to take to get your attention? Huh? If it is, then I don't want it! How could you _do_ this to me?"

_That_ was when the horror movie cliché hit. In a split second, the red glowing lines on Victor's skin turned purple and he went full murder-bot on them. The only thing that saved Dr. Stone's life was one of the guards tackling him out of the way. Wally jerked out of his handcuffs and away from the wall when he saw how easily Victor's arm went through the stone. The blond spared a split second to glare at him but couldn't do much more than that as Victor easily dispatched the first guard. This was really, really bad. If there ever was a time to leave, this would be it.

And yet, there Wally still was, watching in horror as Victor held the blond guard against the wall by his neck. Yeah, okay. He was going to leave.

Except, he hadn't gone more than a foot before his toe scuffed against a pebble and Victor's creepy purple gaze locked in on him. Wally turned and _ran_. Unfortunately, without his super speed, he was only a fast human runner. And this guy wasn't human anymore.

Victor easily caught up with him. He grabbed Wally by the shoulder and threw him into the wall. He was there a moment later, grabbing Wally's shoulder again and sending him crashing to his knees, fingers digging into Wally's shoulder. Wally grimaced with the pain of it, grabbing the metal hand with his own, trying to pry the fingers off. Where were the pressure points he needed on this guy? Wally grunted in pain as the fingers tightened again and Victor pushed him further into the ground.

And then, completely out of nowhere, a _boom tube_ opened in the middle of the lab. Wally gaped, "What is _happening_ right now?"

A teenage girl stepped out of the boom tube, blinking strange colored eyes at the room as a halo faded from around her. She gave the room a tentative smile. Victor, apparently, did not approve. He snarled, "What kind of abomination are you?"

The girl frowned, "I am _not_ an abomination. I am a freak. And my new friend says that being a freak is a good thing." Despite Wally's position, he couldn't help the smile that gently touched his lips. That was a nice outlook on things. His smile disappeared when Victor _threw_ him at the stone wall before launching some sort of small autoclave at the girl.

Wally started a warning shout but bit it off when a glowing red shield formed around the girl. He whispered to himself, "What is _happening_?" He shook his head. It didn't matter. What mattered at this point was getting out. There was no way that this situation was salvageable. He'd had some mild hopes of being able to get the Fatherbox back from Victor once he was healed or whatever, but it was clear that the Fatherbox had _merged_ with Victor, so that wasn't happening. At the very least, the computer and microscope were toast after the explosion and Wally had the paper notes, so Dr. Stone would have lost the research and the Fatherbox. He could always experiment on his son, but, well, maybe he was decent enough to _not_ do that.

As he edged out of the room, trying to make sure that no one caught sight of him, he watched the fight, awed. He had no idea who that chick was, but she was _awesome_. She kept changing colors and she could do new things with each new color she changed. Weird, but awesome.

There was a crash and he looked up just in time to see Victor fall fully unconscious. His eyebrows raised, impressed. Girl really had some power. He wondered if she was a new hero. If she was, she obviously had no qualms about her secret identity getting out since she was definitely in her normal civvies, face fully exposed.

She took a couple hesitant steps towards Victor before her head turned to face Wally. He froze as the attention of the room shifted back to him. She tilted her head to the side and blinked, "Who are you?"

Wally sighed, "One of these times, I'm going to answer with 'the Doctor' just to see how people react." Louder, he answered, "No one worth your attention. I think you'd better do something about him before he wakes up."

The girl took a step towards Wally, "You look so sad."

"Really not a problem compared to Cyberman over there, don't you think?" Wally said nervously, shifting further away. In a couple seconds, he was just going to make a break for it, tell Tara to open the door for him and get the car ready to drive off.

The girl frowned, "Your feelings are always important. No matter what else is happening." Wally twitched at the words. Dick's friend M'gann always said that. What were the odds, huh? The girl really must be a superhero if she's quoting M'gann.

Dr. Stone, thankfully, took the attention away from Wally, "What did you do to him? Is he alive?" The second the girl's back had turned, Wally _ran_.

He instantly radioed Tara, "Get the door open and the car running, now. I'm coming out now. I don't expect to be chased, but we'll see." Tara answered with an affirmative.

Moments later, Wally was launching himself out the backdoor of the STAR Labs and throwing himself into a waiting car. It was driving off before Wally even fully got into the vehicle. He slammed the door shut behind him, slumping into the chair and putting his head in his hands, "That was one of the weirdest ways a heist has gone wrong for me. Well, if you don't include any of Trickster's 'surprises.' Why he felt the need to surprise his own teammates on heists is beyond me."

"What happened?" Tara interrupted.

Wally grimaced, "I would really like to only explain this once, so I think I'll wait until we get back to HQ and I can tell you, Luthor, and Slade all at once."

Tara frowned, but didn't argue, sitting back in her seat and eyeing him worriedly. Wally put his head back and tried to regulate his breathing. He really wished he could take the dumb mask off. But he knew better than to take a mask off before he got back to a safe place. It was one of the reasons 'Wally' had never been associated with 'Momentum.'

The ride to the private airstrip was completely silent. The two of them quickly transferred from the car to the airplane. They had hardly had time to strap in before the plane was lifting off. Wally worked his jaw as his ears popped. He wasn't a huge fan of airplanes. They were obnoxious just because all moving vehicles were obnoxious when you could run as fast as he could, but they weren't the worst. He could move around in them and they certainly went faster than others. Plus, it was cool being up in the air. He would just have preferred running.

The plane had just leveled out when a screen popped out of the wall, startling both Wally and Tara. They turned to each other and laughed quietly. The laughter cut off quickly once they saw that it was Luthor and Slade on the screen.

Slade glowered at them, "What part of 'try to not draw attention' did you not understand, Tachyon? There was an _explosion_."

"Not once that anyone cared about, apparently. You would have thought that an explosion in a STAR Labs would have brought rescue services racing in but there was literally no one," Wally mused.

"Because we stopped them from coming so you could complete the mission!" Slade shouted. From next to him, Tara flinched in on herself, eyes lowering in shame.

Wally's eyes sharpened in anger. Without consciously realizing what he was doing, Wally grabbed Tara's shoulders and tucked her in next to him. He growled at the two on the screen, "Screw you. We did what we could with the _trash_ info you gave us. There were at least three scientists and one civilian there. That's a far-cry more than the _zero_ your faulty intelligence told us about."

Luthor raised a hand to stall whatever cutting comment Slade had been preparing. His expression was tired and disappointed, "Am I to assume, then, that you failed in your mission?"

Wally snorted, "Only halfway. I didn't retrieve the Fatherbox, but Dr. Stone doesn't have it either."

Luthor narrowed his eyes in consideration, "Explain." And so, Wally did.

DDDDDD

Dick frowned as Violet and Victor finished their stories. He was glad that no one had been hurt when Victor went all Cyberman murder-bot on them, but he was still worried that it was going to happen again. What if Violet was in the bathroom or something and Victor went crazy? Dick knew that was a ridiculous thing to be worried about, but still.

He frowned again. There was something missing. He was going to ask the two about something but then Victor went crazy. What was he going to ask? Right! He called out to the others, "Wait, Victor, Violet! Who was the other person? The one in the room with you when you woke up, Victor."

Victor shrugged, "I don't know, man. I think I saw him before my dad put the Fatherbox thing on my chest but next time I saw him, I had just woke up and the guards had chained him to a pipe. I don't know when he got there or what he was doing in the room or anything. He didn't answer when I asked who he was, and he just said that he didn't cause the explosion."

"And you, Violet? Did he say anything to you?" Dick pressed. Artemis was narrowing her eyes at him, but he valiantly ignored it.

Violet tilted her head to the side, "Hm, I asked him who he was. He said that one of these times he would answer 'the Doctor.' He said that it was not important. I said he looked sad. He said that was not important compared to 'Cyberman' which I believe he was using to refer to Victor. I told him what M'gann always tells us about how our feelings were important. He seemed distressed but then I had to help Victor and he ran away."

"The creepy guy was referencing Doctor Who?" Victor asked incredulously.

Connor shrugged in sympathy to his confusion, "You'd be surprised by how human a lot of villains actually are."

Dick's eyes had widened, though. He asked one more question, "Can you describe him? Did he use any special abilities?"

Violet and Victor shared a look before Victor finally answered, "I didn't really look too closely at him. I was a little messed up, you know? He was wearing all black. Had a really creepy mask that was one solid piece that covered his whole face. Brown hair, I guess? No powers that I saw. I think there was an inhibitor collar around his neck, though."

"An inhibitor collar?" Artemis gasped, "That makes no sense! Who would send someone out with a collar on?"

"It could be a regular villain who just got powers and doesn't know how to use them. They could be using the collar to keep the powers contained while they continue to commit crimes," M'gann suggested.

Dick shook his head, "Wouldn't we have heard of him by now, then? I mean, this guy got into a STAR Labs. Even on the off-hours, that's ridiculously hard. This guy is a pro. We would have at least heard of someone with that unique of a suit before."

"New suit?" Connor suggested.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Dick said.

Artemis scowled, "No. The hair color is completely wrong!"

"I didn't say anything!" Dick said, throwing his hands up.

"You didn't have to," Artemis sighed.

"What are you all talking about?" Brion demanded, "I do not understand what is going on. Who do you think it is?"

"No one," Artemis snapped, "Because it isn't him."

Hesitantly, Connor said, "I mean, we don't have proof that it isn't him. It could be. How did the person get into the room? Victor, did anything happen shortly before the explosion?"

Victor, who was looking between everyone with increasing confusion, admitted hesitantly, "There was this weird little earthquake. Dad and I went into another room to deal with an experiment that the earthquake would mess with."

"Earthquake," Dick repeated, eyes lighting up, "Kind of like one that Tara could create. We know that she's working with that red-headed speedster."

"Tara? Are you saying that my sister was there?" Brion asked, obviously irritated with being ignored.

"Dick," Artemis warned.

Connor jumped to his defense, "No, I can actually see where he's coming from. It wouldn't have been hard to dye the hair brown. It could be the same person. That could have been a hit by the Light or the League or whoever has Tara."

"Who is Tara?" Victor interjected.

"Who is this speedster person that is with Tara?" Brion added, eyebrows drawing together on his face.

Dick finally clued into what Artemis had been warning him about. Of course she didn't want him falling into the same hole he'd fallen into before, but more than that, she knew that he wouldn't want to hash out his whole complicated relationship with Wally to a bunch of kids. She especially knew that Dick wouldn't want to explain Wally's death. It was hard enough for him to talk about with people who knew about the whole thing. Explaining it from scratch? That would hurt too much.

Dick sent her a grateful smile, glad to have such a friend. She nodded back to him, giving him a soft smile that said that she understood. She wasn't trying to stop him from believing that Wally was alive. She was just trying to stop him from hurting himself in the process.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Dick gave the kids a strained smile, "I have to do a little bit more research before I explain all of that, alright? Victor, one of the others should be able to tell you who Tara is. I'm going to go to Detroit and try to get statements from the scientists and the security guards. I'll also talk to Dr. Stone and explain that you're safe, Victor. We don't want him getting freaked out and declaring you missing or something."

"I demand to know who this speedster is! If it has something to do with my sister, then I have a right to know!" Brion shouted at Dick's retreating back.

Dick didn't stop walking. He heard Artemis explaining gently, "This is a really sensitive situation, Brion. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense right now, but it will once we explain. Just, please give him more time. This is hard for him."

He dropped off on a sofa once he got inside, his head in his hands. He breathed raggedly in and out. He could not afford to lose himself to this search. What was he thinking interrogating the kids like that? They just went through a stressful event! They didn't need him freaking out at them like that. God, he was such a mess.

No. No, that wouldn't do. He couldn't think like that either. Self-deprecation was not the answer. What would Wally do if he saw Dick putting himself down like that? What would he do if he saw Dick devolving like that? Dick needed pull himself together. He needed to rely on his friends because they clearly had his best interests in heart, even when he himself didn't.

It was going to be okay. It was going to be _okay_.

Moments later, Artemis's hand fell gently on Dick's as she sat on the arm of the sofa. Connor sat on his other side, his own hand on Dick's shoulder. M'gann knelt down in front of him with a sad smile, one of her hands laid gently on his knee.

Dick felt his breathing come a little easier. Yeah, it _was_ going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

LLLLLL

Len frowned down at the report in his hands. He had to admit, it gave him a little bit of hope. He didn't _want_ to have hope if it was false, but this genuinely looked like it was real. For once.

For the first month or two after Wally died, the Rogues had run wild. None of them had believed it. How could they? They weren't there. There wasn't any body to bury. How dare the heroes tell them that Wally was dead? He couldn't be. He just couldn't. But he was. The Rogues had looked everywhere, tried everything. There was no way that Wally could have survived that. But here, almost two years after giving up on Wally, there was proof that he was alive.

Had he been alive the whole time? Had one of Len's Rogues – one of his _kids_ – been suffering for two years while he let the Rogues slowly devolve around him? The idea was unbearable. Well, no. It was slightly bearable if it meant that Wally was alive and could come home.

If he could come home. Len was under no delusions about this mess. If this mysterious speedster, if the man in all black really was Wally, then this was a horribly complicated situation that would take a lot of work to fix. This person was smack in the middle of the metahuman trafficking situation. He was mixed up with assassins and the Light and whatever else. He also obviously hadn't tried to run. The person had been let loose for missions at least twice now (if the speedster and the brown-haired thief from the STAR Labs were the same person, of course) and never seemed to try to escape. If that was Wally, then why didn't he run? He obviously had an inhibitor collar on sometimes, but that didn't explain everything. He could have still tried to escape.

Had he been brainwashed? Tortured until he was broken? Had he given in for some other reason? Were the people who took him threatening someone else? Goodness knows that boy had no sense of self-preservation when people he cared about were being threatened. But he had to know by now that the Rogues could take care of themselves. If he escaped and ran to them, they would have been able to deal with whatever came at them. Together. As a family. Wally _knew_ that. He trusted them enough for that. Then was it someone else? Dick and Barry were both able to take care of themselves. _Everyone_ Wally knew could take care of themselves. He had surrounded himself with heroes and villains. All of them had protection. All of them were highly skilled. He had to know that.

Then did it have something to do with that girl that was with him? Dick, strangely enough, wasn't very forthcoming on information about her. All Len got was that she was a metahuman with geokinesis abilities and the code name Terra. That was it. Why was he being so secretive about who she was? He obviously knew more.

Len sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was probably Dick's instinctive mistrustfulness. As much as Dick had come to accept being in a relationship with a supervillain and having to deal with the supervillain family, a part of him would always be a Bat and would always mistrust them. Maybe Wally had managed to get past that layer of suspicion, but the rest of the family certainly hadn't. It wasn't a problem normally, but if Dick was keeping something from them about _Wally_, then there was going to be a problem.

Before Len could work himself up any further, Mick ambled over, dropping a cold beer next to Len. Gratefully, Len grabbed it and took a drink, closing his eyes as the liquid slid down his throat. When they'd gotten James, the Rogues had tried to stop drinking alcohol at home because they didn't want to bring up bad memories. They knew that they'd be able to start doing it again once James got a little more used to them, but then they'd gotten Wally and they didn't want to freak him out with their drinking either. And then Cameron came along right after him. So, the Rogue household had been a dry one for a while, but with Wally… gone and Cameron off doing his own thing, they'd loosened their self-imposed sobriety.

And this situation certainly called for a drink.

Mick nodded at the papers that Len held, grunting, "That Dick's research?"

"Yeah," Len said slowly, "It is."

"You think it's him?" Mick asked, eyes burning. Len wasn't sure what answer Mick wanted to hear.

Sighing, Len went with the truth, "I think so. Some of the things he's been reported as saying definitely sound like Wally. And the proportions are almost dead-on in the Stagg house camera. They weren't able to get proportions on the STAR Labs robbery because he kept out of their blind-spots and the cameras were destroyed in the explosion. But the people who were there described someone roughly around the same size as Wally. Skinnier, though."

Mick made a displeased expression, "It's so hard to keep weight on that boy."

Len smirked at him, "Not too hard with your mother-henning." Mick glared. Len only smirked more. Then he shook his head, smirk falling into something a little softer, "He made dumb science jokes at STAR Labs, apparently. Doctor Who. You know he had just started watching that with Hartley and Sam and Dick before – you know. He nervously babbled at the guards. I don't remember what he said, and the guards said that they weren't too sure either, but it was definitely nervous babbling. His techniques to get into the building? Definitely seemed like Rogue techniques to me. It's hard to tell because he wasn't working by himself or with Rogues. Dick mentioned he was working with a girl called Terra."

Mick looked at him thoughtfully, eyes piercing again, "This mystery speedster also killed someone."

Len's lips tightened, fists clenching over his thigh and around the neck of the beer bottle. He swallowed and admitted, "I try to not think about that."

"It looked like that girl was being threatened," Mick offered.

"I know," Len said, shaking his head slightly, "And it doesn't matter if Wally killed someone anyways. It wasn't like Stagg was a good person. We've stolen from him several times, now." Len had a sudden thought. It tugged his lips upwards and he started laughing quietly, chuckling into the open room.

Mick raised a judgmental eyebrow, "What?"

Len smirked again, "I think that Wally's first _successful_ heist was against Simon Stagg. We know that the one with Oliver Queen fell through, but he stole from Stagg's house next, remember?" Mick tilted his head in thought before his own lips slid into a smile and he started snickering loudly.

Hartley stumbled down the stairs, eyes narrowed, "What do you two find so amusing? Are you drinking, Len? It's, like, lunch time."

"Did you just wake up?" Len asked incredulously. Hartley wasn't necessarily an early riser, but he almost never slept this late either.

Hartley glared at him, "I got to bed late. I was… I was out listening for word about Wally. I was talking to people around town, seeing if they've got info on these meta trafficking rings. I didn't get anything, though," Hartley warned before either man could get too excited. He sighed and slumped against one of the rocking chairs, "People know better than to bring human trafficking into Central. And since they know that we support metas and have metas on the team and all that, none of them are stupid enough to bring in metahuman trafficking either. We'll have to keep asking around. See if maybe I can find some people who are just passing through. They'll probably have more information. I know that Cheshire's been trying to trace Wally back through her old League of Shadows resources, but she doesn't have a whole lot of power after being out for seven years, you know?"

Len rolled his eyes. Cheshire, Lisa, and Catwoman of all people had formed an unholy trinity of terrifying women dedicated to providing good female influence on Len's kids. None of them dropped by frequently since Jade and Selina were both based in different cities and Lisa didn't seem like she'd ever lose her wanderlust, but it was terrifying when they did drop by. Especially because they tried to organize it so that all three would be in Central at the same time. Cameron, Wally, Hartley, and James didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, but the rest of the men in the house? They spent the times the girls visited hiding.

Mick sighed heavily, "We're not even close to finding him."

"We will find him," Hartley said, eyes so sad but so serious, "We _will_. I won't accept anything else. And we'll have help in a couple day. Once Mark and James get out of jail, we'll have two more people to help."

Mick glared over at the staircase, "If _someone_ would pull himself together, we'd have _three_ more people."

Hartley sent a worried look over towards the staircase himself but didn't say anything. Len didn't do anything but sigh. Sam had taken Wally's death just as hard as the rest of them, but he'd really fallen at the one-year anniversary. Something in him had thought that Wally was going to turn up alive at some point, that he was going to walk through the front door with some dumb look on his face. Up until that one-year anniversary of Wally's death, Sam had turned the porch light on in every safehouse they were in so Wally would know that they were waiting for him. It had caused more than one fight, but Sam had refused to stop.

Now he just stewed in his room, angry and hurt and _sad_. He didn't drink (thankfully) because Len didn't want to imagine that volatile mix with alcohol added in. But he still sat in misery most of the time. He brought down the mood of the entire house. Len was half-convinced that Sam's mood was what drove Cameron away in the long run. Sam was half-hearted on whatever heists he was dragged into and never ran heists of his own anymore. He refused to help search for Wally, refused to believe that he was alive. Sam was convinced that it was someone who was messing with them.

It hurt to see Sam hurting so much but Len wasn't sure what to do. What could they do other than bring Wally home? Hopefully, seeing Wally would be enough to snap Sam out of whatever funk he'd gotten himself in. Well, ideally, he'd have himself sorted out well before that. If Len could just get some sort of _certain_ verification that Wally was alive, something that proved without a doubt that this person _was_ Wally, then Sam would certainly pull himself together. Then Wally could come home to a happy household. Well, if they could get Cameron to pull _his_ life together, of course.

Len sighed again, deep and aggrieved. Why did he decide to make a team all those years ago? Him and Mick were doing just fine together with Lisa occasionally pitching in. Things would have been a whole lot less complicated if he'd just stuck with them instead of creating this whole messed up group.

Shaking his head, Len let out a softer sigh. He knew why he created this team. He'd been _lonely_ and there was a new hero on the scene that made crimes that much harder and everything was just a whole lot harder than it had to be. But a team could make it better. And then, quicker than he could have imagined, it became a family. It wasn't just him and Lisa or him and Mick. It was all these crazy people, loud and boisterous and completely ridiculous and _exactly_ what he'd needed, problems and all.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, Len leaned back in his chair, taking one more large swig of his beer. He put it down and stood up swiftly. Tossing the papers on the table next to the chair he'd been sitting in, Len raised an eyebrow at the two Rogues watching him curiously, "I guess I'd better pull my own weight, then. I'll go do my own research, see what I can find."

"Are we going to be working directly with the heroes on this?" Hartley asked, frowning, "I mean, are we going to be doing actual work with them or are we just doing our own things and exchanging information?"

Len scowled, "_Ideally_, it'd be the former, but it's looking like the latter. The heroes are hiding something from us."

"Are you that surprised?" Sam's voice entered the conversation. Len looked up to see him leaning against the railing, halfway down the stairs. He looked more haggard than usual, bags under his eyes and a pale tint to his skin.

Len sighed, "If it had been Barry, maybe. But this is Dick, so no, not really."

Hartley glared at Sam but addressed Len, "What do you think he's hiding?"

"There's a girl that this person's working with. All I know is that the girl's name's Terra, she was taken by this organization a bit ago, and she can control rocks or something. If this person is Wally, then this Terra girl is leverage, either for us or for the people he was caught by. Either way, finding out _who_ she is could help a lot. Not only in finding them but in dealing with them once we find them. And Dick won't say who she is. I _know_ him and I can tell he's got the name. He knows who this girl is but he's not sharing. Which just means I'm going to have to go and figure it out myself."

WWWWWW

When the call to headquarters finally cut out, Wally let his head hit the seat he was sitting in. At least they'd given him and Tara a nice plane to travel in. If he'd been in some trash jet after that train wreck of a mission, he would have gone crazy. Well, crazier.

Next to him, Tara swallowed harshly, "What do you think they're going to do to us? For failing?"

Wally frowned, "I don't honestly know. Like I said earlier, Luthor's got some sort of creepy obsession with me, so that might afford us some protection. Especially since there's no way they're taking the collar off for me to heal and he won't want me _too_ damaged. Unless it's for the tests." He couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice at the end.

Tara looked at him for a long moment. Wally tilted his head, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible. He didn't know what she was looking for, but she was definitely searching for something. He didn't want to disappoint her. Finally, she blew out a breath. Keeping her eyes lock on his, she carefully reached over and put her hand over his hand.

Frowning slightly, Wally moved his hand around so they were clutching each other's hands. He looked back at Tara, checking to make sure she was alright with that. She gave him a tremulous smile and, carefully, turned her body so she was leaning her head against his shoulder, her knees pulled up to her chest.

Wally let his breath fall slowly out of him. He'd always been the baby of the family, so he'd never really had someone lean up against him like this. Dick had sat certainly sat in his lap, their legs entangled, and James would sprawl all over whoever was closest during his favorite My Little Pony episodes, but it was never like this. It never felt so much like he was someone's last lifeline, like he was the strongest shield, like he was an older brother.

Wally closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat again. For a long moment, they were silent.

Then, from her position leaned against him, Tara admitted, "I used to lean against my brothers like this when I was tired. Or when I was scared or sad or anything like that."

Wally glanced down at her, "I would do the same with my brothers."

Tara looked up, "I did not know you had brothers."

"Not in the biological sense, no," Wally shrugged gently, trying to not dislodge her, "But the Rogues are family and all the other kids are my brothers."

Tara raised an eyebrow, "Are there any females in the Rogues?"

Lips curving up at her affronted tone, Wally answered, "Not really. Golden Glider is an honorary Rogue, though. I mean, we all consider her a full Rogue, but she travels a lot so she's not around to pull her weight on heists and do the usual stuff, so, technically, she's an honorary Rogue."

"I do not think I've ever heard of her," Tara admitted.

Wally snorted, "She would be torn between being offended that no one's heard of her and pleased that no one's caught on to her enough to make her internationally famous. She'd probably settle on offended because the Rogues like being flashy a lot of the time. She's definitely fought the Flash a couple times. Golden Glider was, like, one of the original Rogues. Her, Captain Cold, and Heatwave worked together a lot before Cold and Heatwave formed the Rogues."

Tara made a quiet considering noise. Then, she spoke up again, "I'm scared."

Tightening his grip on her hand reassuringly, Wally said fiercely, "I will do _everything_ in my power to make sure they don't hurt you. I might not be able to prevent everything, but I'll do my best."

"You _idiot_," Tara growled, "Can't you see that you being hurt would hurt me?"

Wally raised his eyebrows in slightly amusement, "And can't you see that I'm just being selfish because _you_ being hurt would hurt _me_?"

"That doesn't matter," Tara argued, "I'm in charge here. You have to listen to me, and I say that you cannot do any self-sacrificing things. Ever."

"Sucks to suck, but I'm older and therefore superior. I don't have to listen to you," Wally answered, lips curled up in a little smirk that he knew drove Tara crazy.

Tara scowled up at him, "No, that is _not_ how this works. I am in charge of you. That is my role. That is your role. _I_ am in charge."

"Whatever makes you feel better," Wally smirked. Tara made a little wordless sound of rage. Wally snickered in response.

As Tara started settling back against his side, declaring that she was going to try to get some sleep before they got back to headquarters, Wally reluctantly (very, very reluctantly) felt grateful that Luthor was here. As much of a piece of trash as that man was, he was probably the only thing keeping Wally and Tara together. If Wally had to guess, Luthor was probably the only reason that Wally and Tara were even together in the first place.

It had been six or seven years since Wally had been in the Light's hands, but he remembered their brutal politics well enough. No one had been safe from their machinations which meant that _everyone_ had a very clear understanding of them. It didn't stop the little people from getting hurt by the top dogs' decisions, but it gave them some warning.

Wally knew that, most likely, it wasn't Luthor who had found him wherever he'd been found. It had probably been someone in the metahuman slavery ring that took Tara. Slade or someone else would have recognized him and ensured that he got sent to the labs while they schemed. Wally figured that Slade, now that he was most likely a member of the main Light council, was trying to gain power within the organization. He probably purposefully maneuvered Wally into the position of being chosen for Tara's slave, just to say that he got control of Wally when Luthor never could. But then Luthor had found out about Wally and, well, Slade might be a master assassin or whatever, but Luthor was a super genius and a master manipulator. Slade had lost the game as soon as Luthor knew they were playing one.

If Luthor hadn't arrived, Slade likely would have separated Wally and Tara because they were becoming dependent on each other. That was good for controlling Wally but would undo the work they did to control Tara. The princess's conditioning required limited access to people other than Slade. Wally's presence threatened to ruin that delicate balance. But now Luthor knew that he needed Tara to stay by Wally's side to be able to control Wally. There was nothing Slade could do but watch as three years of hard work washed down the drain.

Wally blinked slowly, a sort of haze coming over his mind. When his eyes opened, he was looking at Tara's worried expression as she hovered over him. There were two medics hovering behind her, looking like they wanted to do something other than hover awkwardly behind her.

After another slow blink, Wally realized that Luthor and Slade were there, too, peering at him with eerily identical expressions of consideration. Wally ignored them and turned back to Tara, "How'd they get on the plane?"

"We are back at headquarters," Tara answered hesitantly, glancing between Wally and Slade nervously.

Slade took a few steps forward until he was looming over Wally. Wally did his best to ignore him as he shakily unbuckled himself. That… wasn't too bad. He only lost three hours that time. Better than it could have been. Of course, it wasn't ideal for this to happen in front of others, but still. He could have lost a lot more time.

From his spot on the other side of the plane, Luthor asked quietly, "Does that happen often?" Wally scowled, but didn't answer. Luthor's eyebrows drew together and he ordered, "Everyone step away from Tachyon." Tara quickly took a few steps back. The medics were a little slower to move, scowling at Luthor and Slade. Wally was distracted looking at them and didn't see the device in Luthor's hand until it was too late. Surprised, Wally yelped as electricity rippled through his system, shooting over every nerve and quickly taking away any attempt at resistance he might have considered. He was still shaking with the aftershocks when Luthor asked dangerously, "Does. That. Happen. Often?"

Gritting his teeth, Wally tried to remind himself that someday he'd get this collar off, that someone would find him, that he would _get out of this_. Panting with pain, Wally managed to get out, "Often enough. A couple times a week. I don't really count. It might happen in shorter intervals, too. Don't know."

"When did it start? Was it happening before you 'died?'" Luthor pressed. The medics were glaring at him from further in the plane.

Wally grit out, "It was definitely not happening before the MFD. I don't know when it started. It probably started around the time your scientists found me. I wasn't exactly in the best headspace when I was in the labs, so I'm not sure what all was happening. Maybe it was something to do with that black tar I woke up in."

"Woke up in?" Luthor asked, eyes sharpening.

Wally narrowed his own eyes, finally able to stand up even though it hurt his ribs and leg, "That's what I said."

"Clarify," Luthor demanded.

Growling, Wally explained, "One minute I'm running in circles around the MFD and disappearing. Next minute, I wake up and I'm in a tube that's slowly filling with this black tar stuff. That's it."

"Hm," Luthor said, "Reports say that you were conscious when you were found after the MFD incident."

"I don't even know _where_ I was found," Wally hissed, hating himself for revealing this information, but unable to hold it back in case Luthor could figure out what was happening with him.

Luthor raised one eyebrow, "Why, you were found in Antarctica, of course." In… Antarctica? If he was in Antarctica, why hadn't the friendly villains found him? Or the heroes? How long had he really been in this place? Had he even been looked for?

Wally grit his teeth again, pushing the thoughts away. Of course he'd been looked for. Of course. He didn't know why the Light found him but no one else did, but that was alright. Others looked for him. They had to have. They _had_ to.

Luthor sighed dramatically, expression as pitying as he could make it, "Unfortunately, this _is_ a liability. You will have to be put in the labs for a little bit. Just until they figure out what is wrong. They won't be actively experimenting on you."

"I will go back to my room at night," Wally warned. Just let Luthor and the scientists _try_ to keep him in the labs overnight.

Luthor smirked, "Of course. I wouldn't dare to presume otherwise. Now, we were going to discuss punishments with you but this rather derailed that conversation. As far as I'm concerned, being sent to the labs, even for his own benefit, is punishment enough for Wally. And, well, I wouldn't want him to get… rowdy with the scientists, so I'd say taking away her slave for however long this will take is punishment enough for Tara as well. Besides, as the person running the heist, Tachyon is responsible for the success or failure of it."

Tara cast Wally a desperate look but was smart enough to keep her thoughts to herself. Wally smiled sympathetically at her. She'd just been brave enough to accept him as a brother, to trust him with information about herself and this was her reward? He was being taken away from her. Maybe this was more of a punishment for her than Luthor was trying to play it up to be. Of course, they had to have been listening to the conversation in the plane. Wally felt rage trickle through his system, trying to flash out over his skin, but he tamped it back down. It couldn't come out yet. Not yet.

Still, that didn't stop him from letting it grow under the surface, simmering and racing and roiling there. Not yet. But soon.

DDDDDD

Dick tapped impatiently against the armrest, waiting for the computer screen to load. Why was this coking website so slow? All he wanted to do was find a good recipe or two. He had wanted to cook the whole crew a nice meal just to celebrate the fact that they were all there, together. He definitely wanted to use some of his favorite recipes, but he also wanted to find some new ones. It was turning out to be a trickier task than expected.

He barely hid his jump when a large group of people stormed into the room. Dick glanced up, wide-eyed, as Brion stalked into the room, expression set. Violet and Forager were hovering carefully behind him with Victor behind them, looking like he was being forced into going. Helga was exchanging looks with Jeff as they walked in behind the teens. M'gann, Artemis, and Conner rushed in quickly afterwards. They're expressions told Dick all he needed to know: the teenagers were being stubborn again.

Before Brion could speak, Artemis spoke loudly, "I told them not to ask you. They didn't listen."

Dick wasn't able to answer before Brion stomped a foot and shouted, "I deserve to know!"

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose, "And what is it that you deserve to know?"

"I deserve to know who it is that you think is working with Tara? What kind of monster would willingly work with a captured child?" Brion demanded.

Conner and M'gann both winced at Brion's words. Dick tried to ignore that and instead take a moment to tap down his instinctual fury. He was better than this. The whole time him and Wally had been dating, people had been talking bad about Wally because he was a villain. This wasn't anything that Dick wasn't used to. Brion didn't know what he was talking about. It was _fine_.

Swallowing, Dick only spoke when he was certain that his voice would be even, "If it's who we think it is, then he's not working with them willingly. But we don't know for sure who it is. It's only a theory right now."

"And what is this theory? Who do you believe it is?" Brion asked, clearly trying to control his own voice and anger.

M'gann walked over and put a hand on Dick's shoulder in comfort. Artemis scowled at the teenagers from behind, "You don't have to tell them, Dick. It's your choice."

"No," Dick sighed, "It's – it's fine. I should tell them. Brion's right, they deserve to know. I'm really sorry, guys. It's just a little hard for me to talk about. Huh. Where to start? Why don't you guys all sit down first? I might ramble a little bit." He sent them a shaky smile. They traded glances but eventually sat down.

Artemis sighed, "You really, really don't need to do this."

Dick smiled at Artemis, "It's really, really fine. Okay, let's see. Have all of you heard of the Rogues?"

Most of them nodded, but Violet tilted her head to the side for a moment before brightening, "Yes! I have. Artemis has been teaching us about different supervillains. She mentioned the Rogues there. They are based in Central City, correct?"

"Correct," Dick smiled, "Right now, they consist of Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, Trickster, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang, and Weather Wizard. Currently, Trickster, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang are in jail, but they probably won't stay there long. The Rogues are really good at escaping prison. Anyways, there used to be two more members. One is Icicle Jr., but he's not really important to this story. The other one was Momentum."

Victor made a sound of acknowledgement, "I remember hearing about that guy. When I was a little kid, it was, like, a huge deal when he made his official debut. Everyone freaked when they realized the Rogues had a speedster."

"Why would they 'freak' about that?" Brion asked skeptically.

"The reason Flash can handle such a large group of really skilled thieves is because he's super fast, right? Well, he's a good hero regardless of his speed, but the speed really helps. When Momentum came into the picture, people realized that the Flash was going to have a much harder time stopping them. Luckily for all of us, the Rogues are possibly the nicest villains you'll see. They really respect the Flash – they actually have family dinners with him and his family now. They won't do drug trafficking or human trafficking. They won't kill either. The Rogues are probably the best you'll see. But anyways," Dick shook his head, trying to get his thoughts back on track, "Momentum and I became acquainted outside of our costumes. I eventually found out he was a supervillain and he eventually found out that I was a hero, but we were still friends. It strengthened his ties to the superhero community. Which means that he was one of the first people on call when the Reach left MFDs around. He helped us dismantle them. He was also… he was also the one who gave his life to destroy the final MFD."

Violet gasped, "A supervillain gave his life to save the world?"

"I mean, it's their world too. That's why Luthor helped us stop the MFDs, too. Well, also for the popularity. Besides, the Rogues do stuff like this relatively often. If Central City really needs help, the Rogues will step up and protect the city. They're kind of unique like that," Conner explained, giving Dick an encouraging smile.

"And Momentum was the best," Dick commented with a small, sad laugh, "If it meant protecting the people he cared about, he'd do just about anything. But… I couldn't accept his death. I searched and I searched and I searched for proof that he was alive, that he didn't die that day, but… I couldn't find anything. He was dead. He gave his life. But then we saw a video of Tara with a red-headed speedster who had the exact same dimensions as Momentum. This speedster was wearing an inhibitor collar which most likely means that he isn't trusted by the organization. It would be an enormous coincidence if this wasn't Momentum. Then I found out that someone working with Tara who wore an inhibitor collar was making Doctor Who references and generally acting like a dork? I really think it's him. I don't know how, but I think it's him."

Hesitantly, Brion asked, "Why is this man so important to you? Why was it such a big deal to tell us?"

Dick swallowed again, lips pulling down into a frown as his shoulders slumped. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he was able to admit, "He was my boyfriend. I loved him. So, so much. And I mourned him. He was… he was _perfect_."

He couldn't look up, couldn't bear to see the pity on the faces of the people in front of him, so he buried his face in his hands, tried his best not to break down in tears, and cursed under his breath. There was a soft soothing sound before Violet announced, "_Is_. If this speedster who is working with Brion's sister is Momentum, then… he _is_ perfect. And you will find him again. And then you can go back to being boyfriends."

"Fiancés," Dick said.

Everyone looked up at him, startled. M'gann managed a strangled, "What?"

Dick had to swallow a few times before he admitted, "When I was… when I was going through his stuff at our apartment, I… I found a ring. I asked Captain Cold if it was what I thought it was and, well, it was. Momentum was going to propose. He got waylaid by all the Reach stuff, but he was going to propose afterwards." Dick let out a wet laugh, "You know, he actually went and bought the ring legally? He didn't even steal it? I mean, the cash he used was almost certainly gained through illegal means, but he bought the ring and that's what matters. I would have said yes. I would have."

"Oh, Dick," Artemis said, wrapping him up in her arms and pressing her face to his hair. Helga made a pitiful noise and buried her own face in Jeff's neck.

The room was silent for a moment as Dick tried to get his breathing under control. Brion hesitantly walked forward until he was kneeling in front of Dick, "I am terribly sorry. Not only for what you have gone through, but also for dragging all of this up when you all asked me to wait until you were ready. I was careless and impatient and selfish. But Violet is right. We will not only rescue Tara. We will also rescue this red-headed speedster and we will all hope that it is Momentum. Everything will be fine then."

"Yeah," Conner joked lightly, gently trying to lift the mood, "And then you have to decide who your best man is going to be."

Dick choked out another laugh, "Probably Will. Although, Kaldur's a pretty good choice too."

Conner raised his eyebrows judgmentally, "Seriously? Sitting right here!"

Dick laughed and laughed as the others around him started gently ribbing him, turning what would have been a heartbreaking confession into a simple release of grief, a sharing of the burden he'd been carrying. He was glad he'd found these kids. He was glad he had his friends. Now all he needed to do was get Wally back.


	7. Chapter 7

WWWWWW

Wally was… not thrilled with his current position. Horribly in pain, miserable, scared for his life, tired of everything, and generally displeased would be a better description, honestly. This was… this was the _worst_. How many times had he ended up in someone's lab, strapped to an exam table? He put _everything_ into escaping that first time, into waiting _two years_ for the perfect opportunity and snatching it when it came. For what? To end up back in the labs three more times? How was that fair? Didn't he give enough in his life? Why was he still suffering?

Sure, he was a villain. He committed crimes for a living. He understood that. Patrick's words to him from all those years ago at the Cave were always in his heart. Wally needed to earn a break. Being a villain wasn't the way to do that. But… was he really that much of a villain? Pride demanded that he say yes, of course, but reality told him that he really, really wasn't that villainous. He did nice things. He only ever stopped being a criminal informant for Will once the man had given up the hero life in order to focus on providing for his family. Wally wasn't bad enough to deserve all of this. He couldn't be. He wouldn't accept that. There were people out there who did much worse things than he did who weren't strapped down to a table, machines buzzing and whirring over their heads.

Wally closed his eyes and tried to shut the self-pitying thoughts out. Now wasn't the time. Once he was free, he could focus more on it. But for now? He needed to put his thoughts to escaping.

The most dangerous aspect of this phase in the labs was the potential that they would discover that his powers had increased. Of course, Luthor knew what his baselines were like at 15 and likely had expected him to grow past that. The problem was that Luthor likely had some idea of Flash and Impulse's baselines. And he had to know, from the whole MFD incident, that Wally was, or _had been_, the slowest speedster of the three. But Wally was almost certain that that wasn't the case any longer. From the brief moments he'd been able to let loose on his speed, he'd noticed a definite increase in his abilities. He couldn't say if he was faster than Barry or Bart without actively testing his powers against theirs, but he could guess. And his guess was that he was at least faster than Bart.

Which would be flagged if Luthor was making comparisons. Which would be bad. If they knew that his powers had increased or were increasing, there was a chance that they'd realize that he was banking on overloading the inhibitor collar for all of his escape plans. Because he wasn't stupid. He knew himself and he knew this organization. If he was wearing an inhibitor collar, there was no way he was getting away. Not after escaping them twice already. Their pride would _never_ allow it. So, he'd have to get the collar off first. Which they knew. Which is why they made it so tricky.

Wally had made so many of his escapes by slipping inhibitor collars. He did it the first time he escaped the labs, the time Barry arrested him and brought him to Justice League headquarters, the time he escaped the Cave, etc. He could certainly get out of little places like police transport vehicles or jails or prisons without his powers – the Rogues had taught him how to do that easily, not that he'd ever needed it. But getting out of places like that? Places highly saturated in heroes and/or villains? Where the cream of the crop are gathered together and told to keep him in? No way was he getting out without his powers.

The next matter was getting Tara out with him. He could just pick her up and run. It was the easiest solution. She was broken down enough that she didn't have to wear an inhibitor collar or one of the control chips. If he ran them somewhere, grabbing some fresh clothes from a store in some random country, got them both changed into something that wouldn't be tracked, and brought her back to the Rogues, it'd be fine. Of course, she'd have to hide with the Rogues until they managed to take down whatever group took Wally, but that was okay.

Wally figured that Tara would get on with the Rogues… eventually. She was still a little too prim and proper to be able to handle the initial interactions with them, but she'd grow to love them in her own way. Wally knew that the others would love her, too just because Wally loved her like a little sister.

The Rogues would be surprised to see him (or, hopefully, they wouldn't because hopefully someone got the message he tried to pass through the guards at STAR Labs), but they'd catch on quickly. They'd go to ground and then immediately start planning on a way to dismantle the group. It would be hard because the Light was enormous and this meta slave ring portion seemed to have a life of its own, but it would be manageable. It wouldn't be the first time that the Rogues managed to take down an organization.

Never one of this size, though. Never one that had eluded the combined efforts of practically all the heroes for _at the very least_ nine years.

Still, Wally had hope. They were the Rogues. They could do anything together.

Wally whimpered against his will when the next needle slid into his arm. Above him, the scientist winced, too. When Wally blinked himself back out of his head and into awareness, he realized that it was just him and the one scientist in the room. The guy was younger than most in the room and had a nervous, guilty cast to his face. Wally blinked tiredly up at him.

The scientist swallowed, casting a quick glance at the door before leaning down a little bit and whispering, "I'm really sorry, man. I know this has got to not feel good. I'm trying to be as gentle as possible. I've got a little robot with a camera inside and I'll be piloting it from out here, looking around. I'm here to take a comprehensive picture of your insides. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, I know it's probably not that cool when you're the one with the robot inside you. But, we'll get this figured out, okay? You'll see. Any day now, we're going to figure out what's wrong with you."

Wally raised his eyebrows incredulously, too tired to snort, "You're too nice… not a good thing to be in this kind of a place."

The slight smile that the scientist had been growing vanished with Wally's words. He sighed and slumped slightly over the tablet he held in his hands. He looked back towards the door again before whispering, "I know. I know that this isn't the greatest place. I mean, look at you! You're hurt so bad and this is when they're trying to _help_ you. I – I can't imagine what else they do. But… but I don't have anywhere else to go. They'll hire anyone who's willing and able, you know? No one else was hiring me and I was living on my own with no job, no money."

"I know for a fact there are villains who _aren't_ pieces of trash who could use a scientist, especially one that specializes in robotics. _I_ would have hired you on behalf of my group," Wally threw back tiredly. He did _not_ want to sit here and listen to someone make excuses for the awful things they were doing to him. He just – wasn't in the mood.

The scientist's eyebrows almost climbed off his forehead, "_You're_ a villain?"

Wally narrowed his eyes slightly at the young man, "Got a problem with that?"

"Why are you here?" the scientist asked, "Who even are you?"

"I'm never sure if I should be offended at that question or not," Wally mused, "On the one hand, it means that no one's connected my face with my supervillain persona. On the other hand, it means that people aren't connecting red-headed speedster with Momentum, so… Not sure how to feel about it."

The scientist gaped at him, "Momentum is dead!" Wally scowled up at him and the scientist backtracked quickly, "I mean, obviously, if you're Momentum, then he's not dead, but, like, everyone thinks you're dead, man!" The scientist shook his head again in wonder, "Okay, well, fair's fair. My name's Benjamin Rubel. Well, call me Ben."

Wally gave Ben an incredulous look again, "Don't just give your full name out to strangers! Especially strangers that have _confirmed_ themselves to be supervillains! You are not going to last long in this business."

"I'm only on contract here for a year and it's almost over," Ben assured Wally, "I knew better than to get into this for life. I mean, it's possible that they'll manage to pull me in for longer, but I hope not." He paused for a moment before looking Wally over more seriously, "Okay, so, I already broke the 'no talking to the subject, don't treat it like a person, just do what you need to do and leave' rule, so I might as well make it worse. Tell me more about your blackouts and maybe I'll be able to help more."

"You really think so?" Wally asked, unable to keep a bit of judgement and a bit of hope out of his voice.

Ben gave him a self-deprecating grin, "I might not be the best scientist out there. I might not even know much outside of computer stuff. But I was one of Cat Grant's most trusted reporters and I was hired as a young innovator right out of high school for her. If nothing else, I can certainly sniff out a story. And the answer to your mysterious space-out episodes is certainly going to be an interesting story."

Surprised, Wally let out a little laugh, immediately wincing with the pain of it. He had to take a couple deep breaths before he felt able to respond, "Alright, Ben. What do you want to know?"

"Everything! The papers we got when we were assigned this project said that you had a good bit of memory blank, right? Let's go into that. When do you remember the first space-out happening?" Ben asked.

Wally had to resist a smile. Shaking his head as much as he could without causing pain, Wally launched into his story. He talked about the science behind the MFD's, describing them in as much detail as he could. He hadn't actually gotten a chance to learn much about them. The heroes had been too busy trying to stop them to discuss the makeup and science of the MFDs with the local supervillain. He knew that they were created with Reach technology and that they were, obviously, designed to disrupt Earth's magnetic field. He knew that there were 21 of them and he had a vague remembrance of where some of them were.

He remembered disappearing. He remembered the fear that came with it, the stupid thought that he hated that the last thing he did was a _hero_ thing. He remembered the crushing realization that this was going to hurt the Rogues and Dick and the Flash family _so much_. He remembered hoping that his death didn't distress Iris enough to cause complications with the babies.

He remembered looking down and seeing nothing but air, nothing but the white snow of Antarctica.

Wally swallowed and moved on, past those memories.

There was… something about the missing time between disappearing and waking up in that tar. He remembered it. He did. He was _there_. He just – couldn't put words to it, couldn't give it a name, a feeling, a location. Wally knew he was somewhere, could feel himself back in its grip. In… its grip? What's grip? Where… where was he?

Wally jolted when a firm hand pinched his cheek. He made a low whine in the back of his throat as his injuries flared to life, burning, aching pain licking up his limbs. When his hearing faded into existence, he heard Ben speaking soothingly, "Wake up, man. I know you can do it. I'm going to ask you a few more questions, but they won't be about that missing time, alright? It obviously distresses you. But, we did get some data on what your body looks like when you're in that trance state, so that's a silver lining, right? Are you with me, Momentum? Are you awake?"

Swallowing through the pain and the panic of knowing that he'd spaced out in the _labs_ of all places, Wally managed to whisper, "Yeah, I'm awake."

"Good," Ben said warmly, letting out his own little sigh of relief, "That's really good. You scared me for a moment there. I can only imagine how your owner must feel, finding you like that all the time." Wally glared at him. Ben raised his hands in a defensive gesture, "Woah, sorry. Didn't mean to bring that up, honest. Okay, I've got all the videos and samples I need for my programs, so I'm going to get the robot out. It's, uh, going to hurt, sorry. They made me put it into production without finishing tests. Or, well, these _are_ the final tests. So, yeah, getting the robot in and out is still a fairly painful procedure."

"Please stop talking and just get it out. If you can't tell, I'm fairly good at handling pain," Wally growled. He just wanted to go back to his and Tara's room. He wanted to go and sleep. He didn't want to talk about this. He didn't want to be there. Please let him _go_.

Ben winced from next to him, swallowing harshly for a moment before sighing and setting up some sort of machine. Wally closed his eyes. Most of the time, he wanted to have some idea of what they were doing to him. He didn't like the idea of not knowing what was going on, not knowing what they were doing to his body. Now? He just didn't care. He wanted to be somewhere else. He wanted to be back home, in his favorite safehouse, cuddled on the couch with James and Hartley and Cameron. He wanted to be at Dick's apartment, curled in bed together.

Ben cleared his throat after a moment, "Alright, I'm going to ask you to describe your memories from the moment when you start remembering things here with the Light. I'll get this last bit done while you're talking, hopefully keep you distracted."

It did not keep him distracted. Wally had to continuously stop giving his report so he could catch his breath from the pain. He didn't know what Ben was going, but it felt like he was sucking out half of Wally's innards alongside the robot. Well, if Wally was really pushed to guess, he'd figure that the robot wasn't streamlined yet and was – was getting _caught_ on things as it dragged its way back out of his system. The thought was as disgusting as it was painful.

Ben finally got the device out, right about at the same time Wally finished up his description of his earlier memories and his memories of the time leading up to his space-outs. Ben paused for a moment once he got the robot packed away safely. He bit his lip briefly before reaching out and hesitantly patting Wally on the shoulder, "You did well, man."

Wally closed his eyes, "Just let me go back to my room."

"Okay," Ben answered softly, "You need to be escorted there, right? I'll call some guards. If you want, I can make it my scientific opinion that you need to be wheeled back to your room?"

"It's fine," Wally answered tiredly, "Besides, I want the guards to be happy when they bring me back to my room. The happier they are, the less tight they cuff my chain. They're not going to be happy if I make them cart me all the way back."

The look on Ben's face when Wally opened his eyes could only be described as heartbroken. Wally didn't understand, personally. This guy might be nice, but he was still with the Light. If he really, truly felt like this, then it wasn't going to last long.

Ben pursed his lips before announcing nearly silently, "I'm going to be out soon. Really soon. I'll make sure you're better soon." He put just enough inflection into his words to make sure that Wally knew what he meant. Ben intended to do something to help Wally be rescued once he got out of the Light.

Wally wanted to tell him to not bother. He wanted to tell Ben that it was too dangerous, that Wally wasn't worth it. But… it wouldn't just be Wally that was rescued. It would be Tara, too. Wally would make sure of it. And if Tara's possible rescue was in the cards, then Wally would let anyone do anything. It would be dangerous for Ben to do this, but hopefully he'd do it smart. Hopefully he'd find protection before he started giving away all the Light's secrets. Hopefully…

Wally zoned out a little as the guards came and led him back to his room. It wasn't one of his space outs. He was just too tired and too _done_ to pay attention.

Of course, that didn't matter when he got back to the room. He had barely made it two feet into the room before he realized that Deadshot was there, glaring into the room. Tara was sitting, pale faced and straight-backed in one of the chairs.

One of the guards shoved at Wally's back when he stopped walking. Wally clenched his fists but didn't say anything, allowing the guards to push him further into the room. One of them held his shoulder while the other walked into his room to get his chain. The one holding his shoulder transferred his grip to Wally's hands instead, holding them behind his back as the other guard locked Wally's ankle into the chain. Once they were done, the guards nodded respectfully to Slade, completely ignoring Wally and Tara, and left the room.

Slade glared over at Wally, "Sit next to Tara."

Wally was too tired to argue, too tired to fight. He moved quickly to the seat next to Tara, lowering himself carefully but quickly onto the chair, pain briefly tightening his features before he could relax into the seat. Slade sneered at him. Wally glared back.

After a moment, Slade leaned back against the bedpost, looking down on the two of them, "I've already given Tara her mission description. You will not be going on this mission because of your… _condition_. Not that you would have gone on it either way. Tara will be going undercover with the heroes' newest group. They seem to be led by Nightwing. She is to inform us on their movements and give us the information we need to take them apart from the inside." Wally felt his heart stop in his chest. They were sending Tara to take down Dick's group? They were… they were… they couldn't be. They couldn't be doing this. They had taken _everything_ from him. They couldn't take this too!

Wally had to resist putting a hand to his mouth, had to resist the urge to gag. He wouldn't show weakness to them. He _wouldn't_.

But… what else could he do? He couldn't stop this. He hadn't been with Tara long enough to break her free of Slade's control. He hadn't been with her long enough to instill a strong enough trust in the heroes for her to tell them what was happening (he firmly ignored his own memories of facing down the Light, knowing that if he had trusted the heroes, they would have gotten him out of there, but also know that he didn't trust them and that was why he was giving himself over to Luthor's labs once again). He had, however, been with Tara long enough for him to be used as leverage against her.

Wally had no doubt that Slade had already _thoroughly_ threatened not only Tara but also Wally if Tara should fail or, worse, purposefully sabotage this mission. It was certainly the most important one that Tara had been sent on.

It was also a clear bid to get Tara away from Wally and out from under Luthor's thumb. Of course, Wally figured that this mission had been in the works for a long time now, but the exact timing? Wally figured that Slade upped the mission start time in order to get control back. Now that Luthor had entered the situation and essentially started overseeing everything that Slade was doing with Tara and Wally, Slade must feel his power and prestige in the organization slipping away. This was his plan to scramble his way back up the ladder.

It made Wally sick.

Slade watched him carefully, obviously eagerly awaiting some sort of reaction. Well, screw him. Wally wasn't going to give it to him. Wally was too tired to play Slade's little games, too tired to hold onto the anger that had been growing.

If Wally _hadn't_ been pushed so hard at the labs the past couple of days, that would have been it. That would have been the moment where his powers burst out of him, breaking through the inhibitor collar. Wally could feel the anger, the _lightning_ growing. News of this mission would have sent him past his breaking point if he hadn't been so worn down.

When Wally didn't give the reaction Slade was looking for, the man stalked closer, snarl twisting his features. Tara fidgeted in her seat but didn't do anything. When he was close enough, Slade reached over and backhanded Wally, growling out, "I know you think that you're better than me. I know you think that you're special. You're not. You're worthless. You will always be worthless. You're the slave of a slave. You're a freak, a monster. You can't even function correctly. Without Tara to come back to, you will spend your nights in the _labs_. Enjoy your last night here, _brat_."

Slade stalked out of the room, still obviously fuming. Wally sat where he was, head still tilted slightly to the side from where he'd been slapped. The second the door was closed, Tara was shooting out of her seat, settling on her knees in front of Wally. She put a hesitant hand on his knee, "Wally? Where does it hurt? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Wally sighed, furious at himself for showing this kind of weakness when Tara was probably already scared about this mission, "It hurts everywhere, Tara. There's nothing specific you can do to help, but thanks. Besides, just knowing that you care is enough to help anyways."

Tara squeezed his knee as tightly as she dared before putting on a shaky smile, "I'll finish this mission as quickly as possible, okay? I'll come back as soon as I can. I won't leave you here. Ever. You… you are my brother, Wally, in all the ways that matter. My brother might have left me behind in London. I will not do the same to a sibling. Okay, Wally?"

Wally looked her in the eyes as he thought about how to answer. How could he convey that he wanted her to leave him behind? How could he convey that the best thing she could do was just forget he existed and give herself over to the heroes? How could he tell her that she was his sister, his first and favorite sister? How could he tell her that he'd make sure that she was alright, that she escaped, no matter the cost?

In the end, all Wally did was smile, put a hand over her hand, and tell her, "I believe you."


	8. Chapter 8

WWWWWW

Wally watched from Tara's bed as the girl paced around the room, checking and rechecking her appearance. He sighed, "Would you stop already? You look properly like you've been a slave for three years, stop worrying about it!"

Tara glared at him, "I cannot help it! This is the most important mission I have _ever_ been on. And it is the first one where I will go undercover for a long period of time! I am justified!"

Wally rolled his eyes and got to the crux of the issue, "And you have to see your brother again and pretend that you're happy to see him."

Tara stiffened, immediately turning around so Wally couldn't see her face. She mumbled, "I _am_ happy to see him again."

Eyebrows raised incredulously, Wally just threw back a bored, "Uh huh."

That was all it took. Tara whirled back around, hands on her hips and expression fierce, "What do you know? He – he – Brion brought me to London with him and then left! To go partying! He left a young girl alone in _London_ with no more protection than a fancy hotel room! I am allowed to have complicated feelings towards him!"

Wally shifted forward, intending to project a calming atmosphere, but winced at the pain on his ribs (and, a little bit, on his arm where Ben had taken out that stupid robot), leaning back against the headboard with a gasp. Tara's anger faltered for a moment, but came back full force when Wally's expression evened out, "Well? Am I not?"

"You most certainly are," Wally assured, "But that's my point. You have complicated feelings towards him, not fully happy ones. But you obviously think that you need to project only happy emotions when you're around him. And maybe that's true for the first time you see him, but… it doesn't have to always be like that. Whatever his intentions were, whatever complicated knot your emotions are making, you were kidnapped and forced into doing awful things. They're going to be under the impression that you were sold around a little bit. No one's going to think it's strange if your emotions aren't always happy-go-lucky. You are allowed to blame your brother. You're allowed to not blame him. You're allowed to pick somewhere in the middle. And you're allowed to disagree with him and show displeasure with him. It's expected. Don't mess with your emotional health just for a mission, okay? Especially not when they'll think it's perfectly normal for you to express those feelings."

Tara looked at him for a long moment in that strange measuring way that she had sometimes. Wally could never really figure out what it meant. He knew that she was assessing some quality within him. He knew that it was a test. He could just never figure out what she was testing or what the criteria was. Every time she aimed that look at him, he would sit still, unblinking, trying not to break her focus. He had passed all of her previous tests, but there was always the fear that he wouldn't measure up that one time.

It was another long moment before Tara broke the stare, sighing and moving to hop onto the bed, leaning gently against one of Wally's bent legs. She sighed again, deep and frustrated, "How can I express any feelings if I don't know what it is that I am feeling?"

Wally let out a small breath of relief as he seemingly passed another test. He settled a hand in her hair and shrugged, "I'm really not the greatest person to ask about feelings. I'm a lot better than I was when I was your age because the Rogues make sure that at least the kids have some basic understanding of how to do feelings, but I'm still not great. But ask the heroes when you're there. Again, they'll understand if you don't know how to untangle your feelings. You've been through trauma Tara, no matter what else people want to say, you _have_ been through trauma. Use that. Help yourself and help the mission at the same time. If you trust them to help you untangle your feelings, they're going to trust you a lot more. It's easier to trust someone who trusts you first."

Tara snorted, "Look at you. All full of practical advice."

Wally rolled his eyes, "You know me."

Abruptly, Tara sobered, "That is right. I _do_ know you. I know that you are very unhappy about this mission. More than I am, I think. I will not get caught, you know. I will make it back safely."

Wally managed to give her a wan smile, "I know, Tara. Trust me, I've seen you in action. I won't doubt your skills."

"Then why are you so upset?" Tara demanded, "This is much more upset than you have been on other missions."

Frowning, Wally tried to explain without giving away that he was _much_ more closely acquainted with the heroes than he had let on, "I don't know. I've told you a little bit about Rogue policy regarding heroes. We like to leave them alone. Hurting a hero is asking for the entire Justice League to rain down on you. And, well, I know you'll go in undetected and get your information out undetected. I _know_ that. I trust you to do that. I just – I know how suspicious Bats are and I know that Cheshire is closely acquainted with them and she was, like, _the_ League of Shadows assassin until she defected and I don't want _her_ to sniff you out and, well, they – I don't know. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't."

Tara put a comforting hand on his ankle, "It'll be over soon. I'll do my best to make sure that it's over soon, okay?"

Wally sighed, "Yeah, okay. Be safe out there."

"Of course," Tara said.

Wally grinned and ruffled her hair, ignoring her indignant squawk with the ease of long practice, "I'm serious, okay? Don't let _anyone_ hurt you."

Tara hesitated for a moment, likely hearing his emphasis and understanding that he wanted her to be careful around Slade just as much as he wanted her to be careful around the heroes. Eventually, though, she nodded, settling back in against his leg. Wally rolled his eyes and grabbed her under the armpits, hauling her up the bed to curl against him in a more comfortable position. She flailed for a moment before she realized what he was trying to do. When he got her settled, she immediately put her head on the fleshier, less injured part of his stomach, closing her eyes and just resting there.

Wally settled a hand over her head again. For all that he often wished that he was _anywhere_ but this place, he couldn't fully regret being brought here. If he hadn't been brought here, then who would have been there for Tara? How would she have ever escaped? Sure, maybe her time with the heroes would have been enough to change her, to get her out. But Wally couldn't trust that. Even all these years later, he couldn't quite put his faith in all the heroes. So, he was glad that he was here if only so he could help her.

His little sister was worth it.

DDDDDD

Dick breathed a sigh of relief when they got safely into the bioship disguised as a car. He was more than thankful that they were allowed to leave after 'buying' Tara. If they had had to wait until the end, it would have been a lot harder to take the place down afterwards.

Dick narrowed his eyes when he got his first good look at Tara. He had seen more pictures than he could count and could probably recite her medical history from memory after so long working on her case, but this was his first real encounter with Tara the person instead of Tara the case.

She was certainly related to Brion, sharing a lot of the bright, strong features and the same lilted English. Her burnished blonde hair was the only thing that really set her apart from her older brother. Other than, of course, the trauma she had undergone. It was obvious in the set of her body and the slight gauntness to her features that the last three years had _not_ been easy for her. How could it have been? She had been taken from her home and thrown into the harshest kind of lifestyle. And yet, she still smiled, bright and honest and _thankful_ when Brion revealed himself. She still cried with relief at the sight of his face, clutching to his suit and burying her face in his neck. She might be bent, might be dented, but she most certainly was not broken. It made Dick happy to see (and if there was a selfish part of him that was happy because it meant that Wally – if the speedster _was_ Wally – could come back from this unbroken, then that was his own business).

Still, they had a job to do. Tara wasn't the only scared, hurting kid trapped in that building. She had been this team's main objective, but Dick was still working with Bruce and the others and _their_ objective was to take this ring _down_. That meant destroying every single sale depot at the same time.

Cracking his neck, Dick efficiently stripped out of his easy-removal suit, quickly transferring over to his black incognito suit. Next to him, Artemis did the same, the two of them comfortable enough around each other to do this. A lot of the time, teams like the Team didn't have an issue doing things like this in front of each other. All the important bits were covered, and they had an intimate knowledge of how much time can matter in situations like this.

Artemis glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "Something doesn't feel right about Tara."

Dick looked over, settling a weapon into a holster on his thigh, "Really? She seemed genuinely happy."

"Well, yeah," Artemis said, attaching her bow and arrow set over her back, "Of course she would. No matter what was done to her, she's going to be at least a little happy to see her brother. I just mean – I don't know. Something doesn't feel right about this whole situation. Don't you think it's convenient that she was sold to the fight ring right when we really started looking into her?"

Dick's eyes widened, "You think she's a mole."

Artemis rolled her eyes aggressively, "Seven years after the fiasco of Will being the mole for the Team and Wally being the mole for Will for the Justice League but actually for the Light while the Rogues and Patrick were both moles for different heroes and I _still_ get a stress headache from hearing the word mole." The two shared a quick grin as Conner came in and grabbed his mask from the wall, cinching it over his face. Artemis finished somberly, "But yeah, I do think Tara is a mole. Maybe she's not actively doing anything, maybe they're getting info some other way, but I think she was planted where we could get her."

Conner frowned from behind them, "What could we even do about it?"

"Nothing for now," Dick decided, "For now, we're going to take down that depot and rescue those kids. I'll talk to Tara either tonight or tomorrow morning, try to get a feel for her. And to get some info on the speedster. Once I get a reading on her, we'll regroup and decide what to do."

Artemis bit her lip, glancing over at the hallway that led to the main part of the bioship, "I really, really, _really_ hate to suggest this, but why don't you talk to her tonight? Mole or not, planted or not, she's going to be stressed, in shock, and just generally off her game. If you want to get a truer reaction from her, tonight is the night to do it."

Dick groaned, "Brion's going to _hate_ me."

Conner laughed, "Isn't it great being a parent?" Dick rolled his eyes.

From there on out, however, it was mission mode. After explaining the plan to the group, Dick moved out instantly. Artemis stood shoulder to shoulder with him, protecting the rear even as he moved the two of them further. It was a routine they had been doing together since _high school_ and it warmed Dick's heart that they were still doing this, seven years later. It warmed his heart that they were still so in sync, so in tune with each other that he didn't need words, that he barely had to start to form a hand signal before Artemis was moving, doing what she needed to do. It was reassuring to know that some things didn't change.

It was less reassuring to know that _other_ things _didn't_ change. Dick and Artemis had fought the Terror Twins many, many times over the years. For all that Belle Reve was a maximum security prison, they had a hard time keeping people inside it. They also had a hard time _getting_ people inside it. There were, on average, more escapes during transit to Belle Reve than there were for any other prison in America. On more than one occasion, Dick had wondered at that. He knew that Belle Reve hadn't been _completely_ horrible when Conner and M'gann went undercover there, but with escape rates increasing not only in number but in desperation (several prisoners had _died_ trying to escape), Dick had to wonder what, exactly, was happening at Belle Reve under Amanda Waller's purview.

Dick shook his head. He needed to focus. This was about the meta kids, not some wild speculation about a prison back in America. Honestly.

Head back on straight, Dick peaked around the edge of the wall. Forager had already started his distraction, meaning that the number of guards on the inside of the building were thinned. Dick narrowed his eyes when they locked onto the Terror Twins. Artemis's words came back to him. This whole situation was rather convenient. And it would have been really, really easy if anyone other than Queen Bee's Onslaught team had been there guarding the group. But… why would Onslaught be here? Other than Tara, there was nothing special about this depot compared to the rest. Why did this merit an elite team of superpowered villains? Unless someone was trying to prevent Dick from feeling like it was too easy. They must have known he'd be suspicious by an easy rescue. Of course, he was a Bat. They were always suspicious when something goes well. But they'd miscalculated. At this point, Onslaught being there only heightened Dick's suspicions.

Looking back to Artemis, Dick nodded sharply. It was go time.

They moved as one, a single unit, a well-oiled machine. They both took one of the Terror Twins, leaping and swinging and dodging. A blow from the Terror Twins could mean death, so Dick had to use all of his agility and flexibility to avoid their hits, darting in and out and in and out, trying to land enough damage to knock Tommy Terror out. It wasn't working particularly well.

Dick grunted as a blow glanced off his shoulder, momentarily numbing the arm. What was Queen Bee _teaching_ Onslaught? They were much better fighters now than they had been years ago. If Dick was right, then they were a lot stronger, too. Which is saying something for metas like Tommy and Tuppence Terror.

Dick jerked backwards to avoid another punch, feeling something twinge in his back. Yikes. He was getting too old for this and he was only 20. Flipping backwards, Dick landed on his feet, giving himself a moment to reassess the situation.

As it stood at that moment, Dick and Artemis were not going to be able to get to the captured teens in a viable amount of time. Psimon was, hopefully, out of commission for the rest of the battle. But that still left Devastation, Mammoth, Shimmer, and Icicle Jr. running around. Sure, three of those were out trying to deal with Conner, but how long would it be before they decided to cut their losses, grab the teens, and run? Dick and Artemis needed to get the kids back to the bioship _before_ that happened.

Okay, next plan was to stall, then. Hopefully Jeff would swing by soon enough to see that Dick and Artemis needed some help and they'd be able to go from there. For now? Dick just had to keep Tommy from going after Artemis or the teens. Easy.

Dick ran for Tommy, doing a low slide through the villain's legs and bracing himself on one hand to _throw_ his body upwards, wrapping his knees around Tommy's shoulders and digging his heels into Tommy's throat. Tommy made a horrible gurgling noise when Dick tensed, locking his legs in place as he let his upper body drop to the floor, his thighs and butt straining to swing Tommy's _substantial_ girth over Dick's head and onto the floor. Thankfully, Dick managed it before Tommy could do anything, slamming the man headfirst onto the ground. Dick immediately somersaulted forward, dropping his feet into Tommy's groin and using that as a platform to spin himself into a backflip, landing again on his feet.

Tommy groaned, long and loud, before pushing himself up, panting but mostly unharmed. Dick mentally cursed the inconvenience. He didn't have _time_ for that. He struck out again, lashing out with his fists, his escrima sticks, his feet. He flipped and ducked and dodged and Tommy Terror was _still _not going down.

Then, like an angel come to save them, Jeff sent electricity arching down into both the Terror Twins.

Dick knew it wouldn't keep them down for long, but the way the two slammed into the ground was just a little bit satisfying. Dick nodded to Jeff and then moved onto rescuing the teens. It was a quick process to go around and remove all the controlled chips, releasing the teens from their bonds. Artemis started gently herding them towards the exit where the bioship was supposed to be waiting for them as Dick watched their backs.

It took a few tries to get the meta teens to actually start moving, especially since they hadn't seen Jeff and so only saw two non-powered individuals dressed all in black trying to remove them. They were probably worried that this wasn't a bust but in instead a takedown by a different evil organization. Dick didn't know how to convince them that they were safe now, that Dick would _never _take advantage of someone like that.

Luckily (or, unluckily depending on how you looked at it), Jeff and Devastation rolled into the area at the same time, smashing into each other and trading faster and faster blows. The sight was enough to convince the teens that even if they didn't trust their rescuers, it had to be better than where they were at that moment. They moved even faster when the Terror Twins smashed back into the picture. Dick groaned dramatically.

With Artemis leading the teens away, it left Dick alone to deal with the Twins. Which was not fun. He could barely handle the one by himself. Then again, he had been working on a time limit at that point. They'd needed to get the teens to safety before really focusing on taking down all the criminals. Now that the teens were almost in a safe place, Dick had more time to work with. Still, the situation could be better.

Panting as he swung under a blow, using the opportunity to land three lightning quick strikes against Tuppence's unprotected midriff, Dick spoke into the comms, "Hey, Conner. It'd be really great if you could come in here and help me."

Conner grunted back at him, "Can't. I can't take Icicle Jr. out. He's too _fast_. Why does anyone let Flash's villains out of Central City? They are way, way, way too good at dodging and reacting quickly."

Dick huffed out a laugh, "Don't have to tell me, man. I've fought the Rogues plenty of times before. I know exactly how irritating it is."

Artemis talked over both of them, "Give me a moment to get the teens onboard and then I'll switch with you, Conner. You'd be better against the Terror Twins than I would."

"Got it," Conner shot back before hissing as he, presumably, dodged an ice blast.

Dick groaned as his distraction earned him a shot to the stomach, sending him flying across the room and smashing into a wall. There was _no way_ that didn't result in broken ribs at the very _least_. Judging by the pain in his wrist, there was at least a sprain there as well. Awesome. Dick needed to get this fight wrapped up _now_.

When he finally got back on his feet, he saw that the Terror Twins were racing towards where Artemis had finally gotten the teens mostly outside. There were a couple that were still trying to get through the door. Dick's heart squeezed when he realized that he wouldn't be able to get to the Twins in time. He wouldn't make it.

With a burst of rock and lava, Brion and Tara flew onto the scene, expressions set and angry. Whoever's side Tara was on, she certainly had plenty of reason to hate this place at least. She directed rock chunk after rock chunk after rock chunk at Tuppence, her brother expertly dealing with Tommy. Dick felt pride swell in his heart at the sight of Brion fighting. The young prince had come a long way from when they found him in that lab in Markovia.

His sister had, too, apparently. Tara moved with the grace and lethality of a trained assassin. But, layered on top, a recent addition, was the same kind of movement and speedy reaction time that anyone who's trained alongside or against a speedster managed. It was the same kind of movement that Cameron was likely exhibiting outside at that very moment. It was the same kind of movement that Dick had incorporated into his own movements. It was the same kind of movement that Oliver and Hal excelled at after years of calling Barry their best friend. No matter what Tara said tonight, she _had_ trained with a speedster. Whether it was Wally or not… that remained to be seen.

With the two of them taking care of the Terror Twins and Conner and Jeff teaming up on Icicle Jr. and Devastation, Artemis and Dick easily got the meta teens into the bioship, ignoring their exclamations and awe at being inside a spaceship for the first time. They got them carefully sat somewhere where they wouldn't be damaged if Forager had to do some fancy maneuvering and then they went back outside. There were still villains to catch.

In the end, with Forager providing backup and Dick and Artemis back in the fight, it didn't take long to take down the remaining members of Onslaught. Since Dick's group weren't technically acting with the League's permission or with the UN's blessings, they couldn't bring Onslaught in for arrest, but they could put inhibitor collars on them and make sure that the heroes were tightly bound and unable to escape. The authorities would be arriving soon. Hopefully they'd be able to take care of Onslaught before they escaped. It rankled Dick to have to do this, but, well, that was the price they had to pay for the UN's restrictions.

Dick sighed, rolling his neck and settling back into his seat. He couldn't help looking back at where Tara and Brion were sat close together. Brion was talking earnestly to Tara, expression open and calm in a way it hadn't been in all the time Dick had known him. Tara was biting her lip, her hands twisting in her lap. Her eyes kept flickering up to meet Brion's before going back to her hands. She still looked hopeful, though.

Dick leaned over to where Conner was sitting next to him, watching Forager pilot M'gann's ship with a fond smile on his face. Dick rolled his eyes and couldn't help teasing, "He really feels like your kid when he gets along so well with bioship, right?"

Conner startled before glaring at Dick, "Ha, ha, Dick."

Dick smirked. Then he remembered what he'd meant to ask Conner and the smile dropped from his lips in favor of something more serious, "Conner, can you tell me what Brion and Tara are talking about? I hate to be so suspicious about her, but Artemis is right. Something feels off about this whole situation."

Conner frowned but still gave an overview of what the siblings were talking about, "Brion's apologizing to Tara for leaving her alone in London – where she was taken. She's saying that she doesn't know if she can immediately forgive him, but he's her brother, so of course she is just happy that they are together again. She wants to know when she can see Gregor again. Brion is explaining how complicated that is. She wants to know if she's really safe here, in this place. Brion is saying how we have taken good care of him and that… that he trusts us. Aw, how sweet. That's pretty much it, though."

"Okay," Dick sighed, "Can I ask you guys to help me distract Brion while I interrogate Tara tonight?"

"Yeah," Conner frowned contemplatively, "We'll figure something else. M'gann will help. Assuming she's back from her own raid by then, of course."

"Of course," Dick echoed. He snuck one last look back at Brion and Tara. Brion was clasping Tara's hands at that point, saying something very earnestly.

Maybe she wasn't a plant. Maybe she hadn't been brainwashed. Maybe there was something else at work here.

But Dick was a Bat. And Bats are always, _always_ suspicious of good things.

LLLLLL

Len was sifting through the newspaper, yawning and feeling just awful in general. The search for Terra's identity was going absolutely nowhere. He was more than impressed that Dick even managed to get something like that. What resources were Dick using that Len couldn't get access to?

He groaned and rubbed a hand across his eyes. That was a problem for the morning. It was almost midnight and he'd been out late the past four or five nights, trying to track down information about Terra or the mystery speedster. He was getting too old to pull stunts like that. Sure, he kept his body in shape. That didn't mean that he was completely exempt from the normal rules of aging.

James bounded down the stairs, followed by an exasperated Hartley. Hartley was shouting at the older man, "That's mine! Give it back!" James just cackled and ran around the couch.

Len pinched the bridge of his nose. Mick ambled into the room, blinking at the scene in front of him. Absently, he reached over and picked James up by the back of his shirt, eliciting a high-pitched yelp. With his other hand, Mick plucked the device out of James's hand.

Hartley deflated in relief, "Thank you, Mick. Really. I thought I was never going to get it back from – _don't look at that_!"

"Gah!" Mick shouted, flinging the object away from him and dropping James all at once. He hunkered down right there in the middle of the floor and covered his face with his hands. Len raised his eyebrows in interest.

Mark came racing into the room, "I heard someone yell! Are you all okay? What's happening?"

Hartley was beet red at that point, mortification mixing with humor in his expression. After a few tries of opening and closing his mouth during which Mick ended up sliding all the way to the ground, Hartley cleared his throat and explained delicately, "Well, Mick, ah, was being nosy. And looked at the pictures on my phone. The ones of, well, of me and my boyfriend. The ones that I didn't necessarily want other people to see."

Len watched in amusement as Mark turned just as red as Hartley while Mick let out a pathetic sounding groan. Len was just about to add his own comment, just to see how much more misery he could inject into the situation, when Sam burst into the room.

Half the occupants of the room jumped in surprise. Len raised his eyebrows incredulously as Sam just stood there, clearly seething. Len drawled, "Something to say, Sam?"

Sam slammed a small file on the table in front of Len, "'Terra' is Princess Tara Markov of Markovia. _That's_ why Dick won't tell us a thing about her. She's a _princess_. Dick might not be part of the Team or the League or whatever else anymore, but he's still playing by League rules, and keeping it safe in terms of the UN. He doesn't want to create any sort of incident by bringing this to the attention of the UN. He's preventing us from finding out who that speedster is because he wants to avoid some hurt feelings and confusion. Unbelievable."

From the floor, Mick cursed, hard and fast. Hartley and James's eyes were wide as they glanced at each other. Mark was standing in the middle of the room dumbly, clearly not sure how to react. Len grabbed the file off the table and started flipping through it, "When did you start researching this? I thought you wanted nothing to do with it."

Sam glared at him, "I know I'm a mess, okay? I know I didn't react to Wally's – you know. I didn't react to it well. I know I've been awful recently. I'm not saying that's going to change. I'm just saying that I can't justify my behavior if I can't even give this a shot. If that speedster is Wally, then I can't just sit by. I _can't_."

Len nodded to him, "Alright. I can work with that. Good job on finding this information. That was _exactly_ what we needed. And I know _exactly _what we're going to do."


	9. Chapter 9

DDDDDD

Dick pinched his nose when Violet and the others finished explaining everything that had gone down with Violet, the Motherbox, Victor, and the Fatherbox in the time that Dick and the others had been gone. Apparently, it was alright now, but that didn't get rid of the torn up house and mild concussion that Helga had.

At the very least, though, it provided the perfect opportunity to get Brion away from Tara. All it took was Conner gently suggesting, "Look, I know that you're worried about your sister, but she's probably exhausted. Why don't you go talk to your girlfriend? What she went through was very scary and she could probably use some comfort." Brion had glanced between Tara and Violet a few times before Tara gently squeezed his hand and let go, nodding towards Violet with a smile. Brion had smiled back, clearly relieved, before bounding over to Violet.

Tara let out a quiet exhale, subconsciously shrinking in on herself now that Brion had walked away. Dick felt her heart go out to her. This must be _horrible_. Brion and Helga were the only two that Tara even remotely knew, and they were both interacting with their romantic partners. Tara must feel so out of place and lost. It made was Dick was about to do feel even worse.

Still, that didn't stop Dick from smiling gently at her and waving a hand towards the house, "Why don't we set you up with a place to sleep for the night? Victor, Forager, and Brion all sleep out in the bioship-turned-RV, but Violet normally stays at Artemis, Will, and Jade's place. I'm guessing you'll go live there, too. I think M'gann and Conner are at their max with three boys."

Tara gave him a very blank look, clearly struggling to keep up with the names, before she swallowed and nodded, following behind him like a wrung-out shadow. As he walked, he carefully made eye contact with Artemis and Conner, letting them know that he was planning on having the talk at that moment. They both nodded subtly back. They would keep the others distracted.

Dick led the way into a guest bedroom turned office space, quickly opening up the couch-bed and grabbing some linens to put over it. As he started making the bed, he said casually, "I know you're probably a little overwhelmed right about now, but can I ask you a few questions right away?"

Tara bit her lip, "You didn't ask any of the others questions. Other than about who their family is but – you know my family."

"I know," Dick assured, "But the rest weren't staying with us full-time. I just need to know what kind of threat we're looking at. My investigation into your disappearance noted that you had spent some time with the League of Shadows. Are you in contact with anyone from there? Or, well, are they still being updated on your progress that we should worry about retribution?"

Tara shook her head immediately before biting her lip again and shrugging, "I do not know, honestly. I have no contact with them, but I don't know why they would keep up with who I was sold to. I – I didn't, um, I didn't make it through their program. Why would they keep watching me? Should I be concerned?"

"I doubt it," Dick responded with a small smile, "They've got the League chasing after them right now, so I doubt they've got time to do anything other than run and hide. At some point, we might ask you to sit with a sketch artist and sketch out some of the people you were with at training and give some details, but that can wait. Other than that, I need to know if you can think of anyone else that can be rescued. Were there any other metas at the places you were held over the years? Anyone you'd be able to give us some more information about?"

Almost imperceptibly, Tara's shoulders tensed, and her voice became the slightest bit more wary, "No, I don't think so. I mean, everyone else was either with the League of Shadows or they were sold. I don't know anyone else."

Trying to not be obvious but not sure how else to word the question, Dick asked, "There's one more thing. When tracking you, we found a video of you with a speedster. The speedster was… killing someone, I believe, and it looked like you were being threatened. We're currently tracking down a missing speedster and we think that one might be him. Can you tell me more about the speedster you were with? I know it might be a traumatic memory, but it would really help if we could get this information."

Tara full-on froze, eyes wide. Mole or not, she had been completely unprepared for this line of questioning. She swallowed a few times before she was able to force out, "I – I don't know much about him. I think one of the others called him Tachyon. He didn't really speak a lot. I don't know."

"Tachyon," Dick mused, trying to keep his disappointment in. He wasn't sure what he was expecting. For her to up and say that it was a friendly villain named Wally? If she was a mole, then there was no way she was giving up that info. And if she wasn't a mole and she said that he was Tachyon and didn't know anything else… then maybe Dick had been looking in the wrong place after all. Maybe Wally really wasn't alive.

No, Dick couldn't afford to do that to himself again. He had a lead and he was going to calmly and properly research it. He wasn't going to throw his everything into it and he wasn't going to give up, either. He was going to do things right this time. He swallowed and cleared his throat, "Tachyon. Okay. Can you describe him? We didn't get a good image of him with the camera. Did you ever see him with the mask off?"

Tara shook her head, "No. But he was really pale. Um, red hair. I never saw more than that."

"Alright, that's okay," Dick said, giving her as reassuring of a smile as he could. He gestured to the made bed, "You're safe now, Tara. We're going to do our best to make sure that the people who did this to you are taken down. Thank you for your help tonight, right now and at the depot."

Tara smiled at him shyly, "No, please. Thank you for rescuing me. I… I can never repay that." Her smile dropped a little, "But I will do my best to do so."

Charmed despite himself, Dick put a hand on Tara's shoulder, "You don't need to, Tara. Brion is family to us now. And that makes you family." What was left of Tara's smile dropped at that statement, but she was able to pull it back together somewhat, giving him a tremulous smile before turning to look back at the bed. Dick smiled, "I'll send one of the girls in with some pajamas and then you can get to bed. If you need anything, just call into the hallway and someone will hear you, alright? Do you have any questions for me? Is there anything I can get for you?" Tara shook her head, eyes large with bags hanging underneath them. Dick gave her one last comforting smile before walking out of the room, leaving it cracked so she didn't feel trapped.

Dick kept up a cheery attitude long enough to tell Brion where Tara was and suggest that Violet drop some pajamas off for Tara and wait for all the kids to head off to their various bed areas. By that time, M'gann had returned, so it was Conner, M'gann, Artemis, and Dick all sat in the living room, just existing in each other's company.

After a long moment of relaxed silence, Dick sighed and moved into business, "I think Tara's a mole." Artemis's shoulders drooped and she closed her eyes, moving a hand up to press against her forehead.

M'gann and Conner shared an unhappy look before turning back to Dick. M'gann pressed a hand to her chest, "Are you certain?"

"No," Dick shrugged, "But I'm as close to certain as I can be. You should have seen her panic when I mentioned having video evidence of the Stagg murder. She didn't want us to see that. And if it was simply her not wanting us to see her 'doing something bad' then the video wouldn't have bothered her. All she did was break and enter. It was W- it was the speedster who, who killed Stagg. You could even say that she looks like a victim in the video. She wouldn't have looked so panicked. And she was definitely lying about not knowing more about the speedster – Tachyon she called him. Beyond that, I hinted that the people who took her might come after her and she wasn't really concerned. She tried to act concerned, but it was clearly an afterthought. If that doesn't tell me that she's still working with them, then I don't know what would."

Conner frowned, "What do we do? If we're acting under the assumption that she's a mole, what can we do?"

"I mean, it's not impossible to operate – to _flourish_ – with a mole in your ranks. We showed that back when the Team was first formed," Artemis started, "But this time we can control the information flow. And since we know who it is, we can try to convince her that we are here for her, that we genuinely want to help."

M'gann shrugged delicately, "I believe that is all we can do for the time being. Make her feel welcome and _safe_ and part of a family. The Light underestimates the power of kindness and that will be their downfall."

Thinking back to Dick's first interactions with the Light, he couldn't help but agree. It was, honestly, the downfall of most villains. They underestimated the power of some positive emotion or another whether that be love or teamwork or compassion. Dick smiled at M'gann, "Well said, M'gann. Well said."

WWWWWW

Wally narrowed his eyes when Luthor and Deathstroke walked into the examination room he'd been moved to. It had only been a few days since they had dropped Tara off at the slave depot so she could integrate into the program in time for Dick and his group to pick her up. There shouldn't be any reason for the two villains to be bothering Wally.

When they started looking through the notes that were strewn across the room, Wally gave up on keeping his head up and just let it fall back against the exam table. It was too much effort to keep his head up. Not enough incentive. Next to him, Ben nervously tapped against the tablet he was note-taking on, clearly not sure if he should speak up or not. The other scientists in the room ground to a halt, staring at Luthor and Slade curiously. No one spoke, watching the two of them silently.

Eventually, Wally groaned, fed up. If they wanted to know why the two were in there, then all they had to do was ask! He sighed aggressively, "What are you two doing?"

Slade sneered at him but didn't answer. It was Luthor who eventually spoke, but he wasn't answering Wally's question. Instead, he turned to the scientists and asked, "How soon can you find out a way to minimize his 'space-outs?' When can he be field operational?"

The scientists shuffled around, glancing to each other to see who would speak first. Wally wanted to hurt all of them. Except maybe Ben. Eventually, one of the women up towards the front of the room cleared her throat nervously and answered, "Well, as far as we can see, it _should_ be field ready right now, but only for certain assignments. As long as the assignment does not require a lot of time where the subject would be alone and unengaged, it should be ready."

"Unengaged?" Luthor pressed even as Wally _seethed_ at being called an 'it.'

The scientist nodded, "Yes. We are fairly certain that the 'space-outs' only happen when the subject isn't doing anything. When it is alone in it's room or not actively conversing with it's owner, it is much more likely to fall into a 'space-out.' Our cameras have only recorded it spacing-out when there is no one in the room."

"So they only happen when his mind is not engaged with the present moment," Luthor mused, "Fascinating."

"Uh huh, super fascinating," Wally deadpanned even though it kind of was fascinating. What was going on with him? Why did it only happen when he wasn't actively engaging? How strange… Wally focused back in the moment, scowling at Luthor, "And why, exactly, would you be wondering about my field status? You want me to steal something for you?"

"Yes, actually," Luthor smirked.

Wally narrowed his eyes, "No way. You said you were keeping my identity under wraps. Going out and stealing more things for you, especially without Tara with me, is a guaranteed secret ID fail. Even if the criminal underworld doesn't connect me with Momentum or you with the Light, they'll at least connect me with the Light. Or with whatever weird metahuman trafficking thing you've got going on. What happened with not doing that?"

"You've been made," Slade snarled at him. Wally resisted the urge to snarl back. Sure, Wally's appearance at this base practically undid Slade's work with his precious pet project, but that was Slade's fault completely. Slade was the one who wanted to show off and claim Wally as his own. Well, screw him. Wally wasn't going to sit down and let that happen. If that meant that Slade's own little projects weren't going to work out, then, well, bonus.

Luthor sent Slade a mild warning glance before turning back and addressing Wally, "It turns out that Simon Stagg was more paranoid and richer than we anticipated. He must have had some sort of camera that we were unable to locate. Nightwing was able to get a video of you killing Stagg and managed to get Terra to admit that she had been near a speedster named Tachyon. Therefore, we can send you out without having to worry about discovery. It would be suspicious if you disappeared as soon as Terra was 'rescued' by the heroes, wouldn't it?"

"I wouldn't really mind if people got suspicious of you," Wally commented mildly even as his stomach contracted. Dick had seen him killing Stagg? Surely Dick must have realized that Wally was coerced into doing it. But… if Dick knew that Wally was the speedster, why wouldn't he have asked Tara about that? Tara surely would have said something to Slade if Dick had mentioned knowing that Wally was there, wouldn't she have? Or was she playing careful with both fields and not telling Slade that Dick asked? Or did Dick not actually know that Wally was the speedster? Wally's heart sank. Why would he? Wally was _dead_. There was no reason for anyone to suspect that a new red-headed speedster meant Wally was alive. Sure, heroes came back from the dead all the time, but villains didn't. Maybe Dick didn't know who he was. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Luthor smiled at Wally, acting almost as if he was being indulgent of Wally's attitude. Wally wanted to _hurt him_. Luthor said, "But we both know that you'll make sure no one gets suspicious of you. Not if you want to stay alive. Not if you want _Tara_ to stay alive. Now, I will leave Mr. Wilson here in charge of bringing you back up to acceptable fighting form and, from there, I have a list of assignments already being compiled for you to complete. In the time between missions, you will report here where the scientists will continue trying to cure you."

Unable to stop himself, Wally called out, "Where are your scientists, Luthor? These guys are subpar. I was at least hoping for some familiarity when you said I was being thrown back in the labs. But these aren't the same people I had last time. Have you managed to fire all of them in the last seven years?"

Luthor arched an eyebrow, "Do you not recall your purpose in the labs, my dear Wally? You were my essential ingredient for my Everyman project, for my crowning jewel. Neither your first nor your second escape from my labs was enough to halt the project, however. My scientists are still working on the Everyman project, perfecting it even now. It's almost ready for production." The color drained from Wally's face as Luthor made his declaration.

Luthor left shortly thereafter, taking Slade with him. Wally was still reeling over Luthor's comment. The Everyman project was still happening? Did that mean that there were other metas that were being exploited the same way Wally had been? Wally knew that the all of the metas who had been part of the experimentation at the same time he was the first time he was in the labs were dead. Had there been others? Were there still kids scared and alone in labs somewhere? The thought made Wally physically sick. But more than that was the underlying deadly fear that they could still turn Wally's powers off. Wally knew that Patrick had destroyed the machine that turned Wally's powers off all those years ago, but the scientists had been able to rebuild it enough to turn Wally's powers back on again. They hadn't tried to turn his powers off since then, but did they still have the capability? Was it only a matter of time before they remembered about that little fact? Was it still possible? The fear of that kept Wally paralyzed even as the scientists around him came back to life, starting back in on whatever experiment they had left off on.

Had he ever really been free from this nightmare?

LLLLLL

Sneaking into the Markovian palace was one of the most depressingly easy jobs Len had ever done. He nursed the faint hope that maybe it was harder to leave than it was to enter, but it was a _very_ faint hope. It really wasn't all that surprising that the King and Queen had been murdered and their daughter kidnapped if this was what security was like around the place. Honestly. They were practically inviting people to come in and steal from them! They were lucky these things hadn't happened before!

Of course, none of that really mattered at the moment. All that mattered was that Len got to the person he needed to get to without alerting anyone of his or his Rogues' presences.

Cautiously, Len crept to the edge of one hallway, narrowing his eyes before crouching down and peeking slightly around the corner. If his info was right (and it _better_ be right), then Gregor Markov's room was just around the corner, first door on the right.

Len narrowed his eyes further when he saw the guards stationed outside the prince's (prince? Was he still a prince? Or was he King? Reagent? Len wasn't actually sure what his title was at that point) room. Glancing behind him, he made a series of hand signals. Smoothly, Hartley moved to the front of the group, the rest activating their sound dampeners. They nodded to Hartley once they were ready and he brought his flute to his lips. After a second, he started playing his flute as quietly as he dared – he wanted the guards to be knocked out, but he needed Gregor to still be awake and unaware of potential intruders.

Thankfully, there was no blaring alarm from inside the room, so Gregor at least couldn't hear the flute or else thought nothing of it. The two guards dropped as Hartley finished the last few notes. Len and Mick ducked forward and caught the guards before they could clatter to the ground. They dragged the guards over to a secluded notch in the hallway, securing the guards and ensuring that even if they did wake prematurely, there was no way they were going anywhere or raising any alarms.

Quickly, the Rogues moved onto the next part of their plan. Half of the Rogues stood on one side of the door while the other half stood on the other side of the door. Len waited a moment before nodding sharply to James and Mark. The two quickly dropped their gear into the hallway before standing in front of the doors. With another nod, Hartley and Sam each opened a door, swinging it open as quickly as they could. The second the James and Mark were inside the room, Hartley and Sam slammed the doors shut again. There was a muffled shout before a small popping noise was heard. James must have dropped the EMP. Hopefully Mark had grabbed Gregor already. The EMP stopped Gregor from remotely calling for help, but that wouldn't stop people from coming in if he started screaming loud enough.

When Mark called out an all-clear, Len and Mick grabbed James and Mark's gear respectively and the remaining Rogues walked into Gregor's bedroom. Sam stopped briefly at the doorway, setting up small mirror projections that would look like the two guards that had been subdued. That should buy them a little more time. Hopefully they wouldn't need a lot of time, though.

Once Sam was done, he walked into the room and locked the door behind him.

Gregor was staring at them all, eyes wildly roving around the room even as he writhed in Mark's arms. Len noticed with faint amusement that Mark had stuffed one of Gregor's scarves into his mouth to gag him. With a slight head nod from Len, Mark dropped Gregor and came to stand with the other Rogues, fanning out to either side of Len, forming a small half-circle around the Markovian.

Gregor landed roughly on his knees, trying for a moment to push himself up with his arms tied behind his back before seemingly giving up, choosing instead to glare up at all of them threateningly. Len was almost impressed. Almost.

Len raised his eyebrows, "Chill out, Gregor. We actually have news that you might like. You can have the news if you promise not to scream."

Gregor looked murderous, but he nodded to show that he agreed with Len's terms. Len didn't even have to nod his head for Mick to remove the gag and step quickly back, out of range of Gregor's teeth. Gregor didn't try to bite Mick, though, instead choosing to work his jaw for a moment before glaring up at Len, "I _highly_ doubt that you have any information I would be interested in."

Len smirked from within his parka, "Information about your lost sister _isn't_ of interest of you? How cold-hearted." Len was well aware that it was only long years of exposure that stopped the other Rogues from groaning at his cold puns.

The puns clearly didn't even register with Gregor. His eyes had gone wild and his mouth had dropped open. He spluttered, "My – my sister? What? What do you know of her?"

This was where things got tricky. Len was trying to create an upset here, but only a minor one. He also didn't know for sure how much Gregor knew. When Dick had come to update the Rogues by telling them that he'd gotten Terra and she hadn't been able to give any information about the identity of the speedster (named Tachyon, apparently), he'd also mentioned that he was keeping Terra with them. That made Len assume that Dick was keeping Tara from contacting Gregor for whatever reason. Since Dick wasn't in the mood for sharing with anyone, Len was going to have to do it for him.

Len pushed his parka hood back and grinned amiably at Gregor, "I know where she is – roughly. I know who has her."

"Who? Tell me!" Gregor shouted, anger giving him the adrenalin needed to surge to his feet. He tipped slightly for a moment but managed to stay upright.

"Nightwing and whatever other heroes he's managed to get in on his plan with him. He rescued Princess Tara two days ago," Len answered bluntly.

Gregor rocked back a step. Len could _see_ the energy draining from him. Seemingly without his permission, Gregor muttered, "Brion would have told me."

"Prince Brion is with Nightwing?" Len asked sharply.

Gregor glanced up, startled. For a moment, Len was sure that he was going to deny it, but instead Gregor straightened and blew right past the question, "What proof do you have?"

Len nodded to Hartley who pulled a small recorder out of his pocket. He briefly played a clip of Dick's earlier conversation with the Rogues. Len watched the color flee from Gregor's face. He closed his eyes for a moment, arm twitching like he wanted to pass a hand over his face.

When Gregor opened his eyes again, however, he was every inch the calm, collected leader of a country that he should have been. He was voice was sharp and commanding as he lifted his chin and said, "This Nightwing character has Prince Brion as well. Since metahumans are no longer allowed in the country, Prince Brion has been unable to return. I corresponded with him long enough to tell him that he was temporarily exiled and that I would work to calm the citizens and bring him home. I have not received correspondences from him since then. I had foolishly believed he would have told me something of such import."

"Hm," Len said, "Clearly not."

Gregor narrowed his eyes, "Why did you tell me this? What could you possibly gain?"

"Your sister has information that we want. I have a strong guess as to who had her before Nightwing did, but I don't have _exact_ details. I want those details. She has been sighted working with a speedster that we have an interest in. Nightwing isn't giving up the info we want, though. He certainly wouldn't let a group of villains talk to Princess Tara either. We figured we'd do it our own way if he wasn't going to cooperate," Len responded.

"A… speedster?" Gregor asked, testing the word, "I do not believe I know that English word."

Len frowned, "Do you know the hero Flash?"

"Yes," Gregor said, understanding starting to dawn in his eyes.

Len shrugged, "That's a speedster. Someone who runs really fast."

Gregor's eyes widened even further, "You are the Flash's villains, are you not? I felt I recognized you, but I had not been sure until now."

Sighing, Len admitted, "Yeah, that's us. We're the Rogues."

"You are looking for a speedster," Gregor repeated. He glanced up at them, "This speedster. You believe that it is Momentum? The Rogue speedster who died two years ago? Is that who you believe the speedster who had worked with Tara is?"

For a second Len deliberated with himself, but, eventually, he admitted, "Yes. We believe that speedster is Momentum. At least, there's a possibility – too many coincidences. And if there's even the smallest fraction of a chance, then we're going to check it out."

Gregor's shoulders loosened, finally losing the last of his tenseness, "_That_, I understand. I cannot thank you enough for getting this information to me. I will get in contact with either Prince Brion or Nightwing as soon as possible. Once I see Tara, I will try to get more information about this speedster or the organization she worked for out of her. Do you know if the group that rescued Tara had any metahumans on it?"

Len frowned, "I don't know who went on the mission or who Nightwing is even working with. I have to assume that Prince Brion went with and he's a meta, right? I couldn't tell you for the rest of them."

"That is alright," Gregor mused, clearly scheming, "If there was more than one meta on the team that rescued Tara, that, alongside Princess Tara's miraculous recovery, will be just the push I need to remove the ban on metahumans. Or, at least, lessen it enough to get the two of them home." He glanced up at the Rogues, expression serious, "The moment I can get the two of them home and safe, please come back to the palace. I will give you all the information I learned from Tara about this mysterious organization and speedster. I will also be conducting my own research."

"Works for me," Len agreed, "We'll be doing our own stuff, too. Hopefully you making a big political move like that and bringing Prince Brion and Princess Tara back will make Nightwing stressed enough to come back to us so we can get more information."

Gregor raised an impressed eyebrow, "And when Nightwing asks where I got my information from? Who shall I say?"

Len grinned a shark's grin, "You go right ahead and tell him it was the Rogues who told you. I'm in the mood for a little chaos." His grin only grew larger as the other Rogues around him grinned and Gregor visibly shuddered.

Gregor licked his lips before asking, "Is that it, then? Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we're done," Len said. He motioned to the Rogues. Their primary getaway strategy had hinged on the hope that Gregor had a mirror large enough to transport them, which he thankfully did. Of course, they had other escape methods planned, but that was the easiest and quickest.

As Sam started setting up the mirror to bring them all out of the palace, Gregor's eyes widened in alarm, "When will you untie me?"

"Untie you? We might be working together kid," Len smirked as the rest of the Rogues stepped into the mirror. He stepped in, too, glancing back just in time to finish, "But we're still villains."


	10. Chapter 10

DDDDDD

Dick watched with amusement as the kids ate breakfast. He was painfully aware of the husk of Mount Justice looming behind them. He was painfully aware of the number of memories it brought back. He snorted quietly when Tara gave an appreciative hum after eating her first bite of the breakfast burrito.

Violet clutched her own burrito closer, eyes closing in bliss for a moment, "I cannot believe this is your first breakfast burrito! An entire meal, wrapped in a warm tortilla. Pure enjoyment for mouth _and_ hands!"

It was Artemis who snorted when Brion answered, "My sister and I were raised in a castle where eating with one's hands was not encouraged."

Artemis elbowed Dick and leaned over, "Was eating with your hands 'not encouraged' in your mansion, Dick? Or were you not fancy enough?"

"Please," Dick rolled his eyes, casually elbowing her back, "As if Bruce even tried to stop me from eating with my hands for certain things. He had a hard enough time getting me to not swing from the chandelier to try to break me of eating habits." Conner snickered next to him.

"I'm guessing you only ate with those silver spoons you were born with, huh?" Victor laughed, clearly mocking Brion. The two of them had a weird relationship. Dick never could tell if they were friends or just reluctant acquaintances.

Brion gave Victor a droll stare, "And your life with your eminent scientist father was one of economic hardship?" Victor dropped his gaze with a muttered negative. Brion smirked victoriously at him. Violet, Forager, and Tara ignored the two of them completely, choosing instead to focus on their breakfast.

Dick decided to interrupt before the situation could go any further, "_Maybe_ this would be a good time to get to it." He made sure he had all of their attention before continuing, "Listen, you've all reached a crossroads. Vic… you… have your own decisions to make. But Brion? Tara, Violet, Forager? We feel that the four of you are ready to work with the Justice League's Covert Ops team to help mankind." He saw the thrill washing over each of their faces and thought back to the first time he was told that he could go help people. He remembered how excited he had been to put on his suit, even if it was tempered by quiet grief and a simmering need for vengeance. He remembered how excited he had been when they had been allowed to _form_ the Team. He remembered standing there with Kaldur on one side and Conner on the other, staring up at scores of Justice League members and telling them that the either got out of the teens' way, or they would get run over. It had been as scary as it was exciting.

Conner interrupted before their glee could erupt too far, though, "But being a hero isn't for everyone." Dick wanted to sigh at the look on the teens' faces. They clearly had stopped listening at Dick's words. All they heard was the promise of being fancy heroes who got the adrenalin rush of saving people. They had done good work in the search for Tara, but none of them had _really_ experienced what it meant to become a hero. Brion and Tara clearly weren't thinking about what would happen when they were let back into Markovia. Violet had no concept on how this would affect her school life. Forager faced the same problem. Still, there was really no way to learn about that kind of stuff without trying it out, first. Some had burnt out under the pressure of that experience, but others had flourished. Conner kept talking, "This is a choice that you each have to make for yourself. And the decision you make now doesn't have to be a permanent one."

Artemis interrupted, waving her hand slightly to accentuate her point, "No judgement from us, either way."

Dick nodded to her before picking the trail of the conversation back up, "You have already risked your lives for each other and for the meta teens we rescued in Bialya. That's _enough_." He knew the life was addicting, though. He'd been feeling the pull since he was eight years old and watching his parents fall to their deaths.

Brion sat up straighter, voice firm and heated – a sure sign that he was about to be stubborn, "I have made my choice. And Bialya has proven that I made the right one. To protect the innocent, no matter the danger." He put a loving hand on Tara's shoulder even as he kept his other arm wrapped around Violet. Dick wanted to wince. How was Brion going to react when he found out that Tara was the mole? Hopefully, Dick and the others would be able to convince Tara to join their side before Brion had to find out in the worst way.

"But," Conner argued, "Facing danger isn't a mandatory part of our mission. Troia of Themiscyra and Garth of Atlantis both left the front lines. Now they fight the good fight _inside_ the system as ambassadors to the United Nations."

Artemis picked up the conversation, "And you need to know that there is no shame in leaving this life behind. A few years back, I quit the Team. Sometimes you see some… really awful things and you realize some stuff about others that you didn't necessarily want to know. I… I needed some time to figure myself out. I wanted to go to college, to spend time with my sister and brother-in-law and niece. It _isn't_ wrong to put family first, to put _yourself_ first, sometimes. You are free to leave and free to come back and free to do neither."

Dick put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Just because we are heroes doesn't mean that we can't have a life. We are just as worthy of living life to the fullest as everyone else out there. Sometimes… sometimes you have to save yourself before you can save others. Artemis isn't the only one who quit the Team. Some of you might know that, even now, I am not back on the Team. I work with them on occasion, but I work by myself. When Wally died…." Dick had to pause for a moment. All this talking about Wally had made the speedster's death easier to handle, to discuss, but the raw look of panic on Tara's face when she heard Wally's name took Dick's breath away. Dick cleared his throat before continuing, "When Wally died, I left the Team. I couldn't see myself continuing to work with the Team when all my memories of my time with the Team were entangled with memories of Wally. Of course, part of the reason I left was because I wanted to search to see if Wally was still alive, but part of me just hurt being around the Team when the Team is what helped the two of us fall in love. But… Wally came into the life, became a hero for a day, and sacrificed _everything_," Dick paused before catching his breath and getting the speech back on track, "so we could all be here today. At the ruins of our former headquarters, our former _home_. Another sacrifice made for the greater good." The teens glanced up at the destroyed mountain with something approaching awe, clearly trying to imagine what it would have been like if they had lived there, too.

"The three of us live with the consequences of these sacrifices. We stand for those who have fallen," Conner started. Dick's mind flashed to all those who had fallen – Jason, Tula, Ted, too many others. Conner finished, "And we fight for those who can't. That's our choice, but it doesn't have to be yours."

Violet swallowed, looking small with her legs pulled up to her chest, "And… today's the day we are to make this important life decision?"

Dick let out a soft laugh, feeling his heart melt all over again, "Yeah, today's the day. But for now, feel free to enjoy. Even after the destruction of Mount Justice, the Team comes to this beach to relax and, occasionally, train. Go ahead and explore. We'll come get you when it's time to go, alright?" They murmured their assent, all choosing to sit there for a moment longer as they finished their breakfasts slowly, talking together.

Dick sighed out, resisting the urge to rub at his forehead. Conner was frowning next to him. Artemis leaned around Dick to ask Conner, "What's wrong?"

Conner's lips pursed before he admitted, "Tara is asking about Wally."

"What are they saying?" Dick asked, instantly focused.

Conner narrated the conversation, "Tara asked who this Wally person was. Brion told her that Wally was the supervillain Momentum. She's asking why he mattered so much to you." Conner didn't need to tell Dick what Brion answered. He saw it clearly on Tara's face. She looked shellshocked when Brion explained that the two of them had been dating. There was no way she would have that much emotion in response to that topic unless she knew Wally. Wally _had_ to be that speedster.

Artemis seemed to agree because she muttered, "Tara's having a pretty strong reaction, isn't she?"

Dick forced himself to tear his gaze from Tara to the two next to him, "That most likely means that the speedster is Wally." He could feel something in his heart unthaw at this almost uncontestable piece of proof.

Artemis frowned for a moment before relenting, "Yeah, probably. But we have a new question now. What's their relationship? Is she that surprised simply because she can't see the aloof speedster who killed someone in front of her being in a relationship with you? Or is she that surprised because she's friends with Wally and is surprised that he didn't tell her?"

"I'm leaning towards the second option," Dick admitted, "I can't see Wally seeing someone like Tara and _not_ trying to get close to her. He seems to make friends with almost everyone he meets, too, hero or villain, so it makes since that she'd think of him as a friend."

"Why wouldn't he tell her that you two were an item, then?" Conner asked, "I mean, if he really wants what's best for Tara, then he'd have to see that she should trust us. And the best way to prove that would be to say that you two are together."

"Unless they're both under constant observation. I can't see them letting Tara _not_ be under observation with as powerful and important she's become, but that might not be the case. We really don't know a lot about her and her time with the League of Shadows or anywhere else. As for Wally, he would _definitely _be under observation. I mean, I don't know him as well as you do, Dick, but I can't see him willingly working with an organization like the one that took Tara, not even taking into consideration that this metahuman trafficking ring is a thin veil over the Light," Artemis said, brows furrowing.

Dick grimaced, "Speaking as his boyfriend, no, I can't see him working with someone like that just, morally. But speaking as a hero analyzing a villain and keeping in mind past actions? I think it's possible – unlikely, but possible – that he might be working with them willingly. He did it with the Light the first time. If he doesn't know that they're the Light and manipulate him into thinking something or another about the program, then there's a chance?"

"He would have gone to see the Rogues first, though," Conner shook his head before wincing and tacking on, "Or you!"

"Thanks, Conner," Dick said, leveling a small glare at Conner. Conner shrugged back at him. Dick sighed before admitting, "That's true, at least. The only reason the Light was able to prevent communication between them that first time is because he was so new to the Rogues. After five years of working with them, he's got a level of trust that would be hard to work around."

Artemis bit his lip, "I mean, these guys had Tara for three years and she's now working as a mole in a situation where there will be direct consequences on her own brother. We don't know when the Light got their hands on Wally, but… it could be up to _two years_. I know that Wally isn't a child which makes any sort of brainwashing difficult, but… it's a possibility."

The other two went silent, clearly letting Dick recollect himself. He had considered these options before, when he first learned about the red-headed speedster Tara had worked with. Of course he had. He was a Bat. That's what he did. It was different, though, listening to his friends list out the possibilities. It made it more real.

Because… it was the truth. Wally had been gone for _two years_. Not once during that time did he reach out to the Rogues or to Dick or to Barry or to any number of people he could have reached out to. Where had he been? How did he survive the MFD? Why hadn't he come home? All of those questions swirled around Dick's head. But so did the knowledge that the answers to those questions were almost certainly not good.

A sudden yelp brought him out of his depressive spiral. Brion had answered his phone and yelped, "Gregor!"

Tara glanced up, clearly startled. Violet and Forager both stared at Brion with wide eyes as Victor raised a judgmental eyebrow from behind them all. Dick strode forward, "Put it on speakerphone!"

For a moment, he thought that Brion was going to object, but then he pulled the phone away from him and pressed speakerphone. Gregor's voice came through the phone, sounding distressed, "_Brion? Are you still there?_"

"Yes, brother. I am here! I had not realized you had this number. You startled me," Brion answered, eyes wide as he stared at the phone in his hands. Tara was looking at the phone like it was a rattlesnake about to attack.

Gregor's voice was less panicked when he responded, "_Ah, I suppose that makes sense. I had to do a lot of searching to find the phone number, unfortunately. The number I had previously contacted you with had been disconnected and I had not been updated with a new number. I find that strange, personally. But, I have other things to discuss. Is Tara with you?_"

Dick's eyebrows almost flew right off his forehead. _How_ did Gregor know about Tara? That was impossible! Brion spluttered, "I – what? Tara – what?" Tara was turning big, hurt eyes onto Brion which only made the prince stutter more.

Gregor's voice was no-nonsense and exasperated when he responded, "_The Rogues told me that Nightwing and some other heroes rescued Princess Tara from a metahuman trafficking depot a few days ago. I have spent the time between that revelation and now attempting to find a way to contact you, Brion. Now, may I speak with our sister? Or do you mean to say that the Rogues have lied to me?_"

Dick stepped forward, shaking his head to indicate that none of the others should speak for a moment. Conner and Artemis had come to flank Dick on either side. Dick asked mildly, "You would believe something that the Rogues told you? They only believe in benefiting themselves. This is Nightwing, by the way."

"_Ah, Nightwing_," Gregor responded just as mildly, "_You must be the reason that I find myself halfway across the world from my family, lacking in the knowledge of their safety. The Rogues do seem to only believe in benefiting themselves and were quite rude when breaking into the palace. We have, however, reached something of an accord. They helped me with the knowledge that I will help them with something in return. I will only ask one more time, now may I speak with my sister?_"

Tara spoke up before Dick could answer one way or another. As the three siblings started speaking quietly, whispered apologies and tearful hellos, Dick found himself battling a rising fury at the Rogues. What were they _thinking_? How stupid could they get? Didn't they see that there was a _reason_ Dick and the others hadn't told Gregor yet about Tara? Tara was a mole! Once the Rogues found out that Terra was Princess Tara (and how they found _that_ out, Dick couldn't even guess at), they surely must have understood what kind of international incident Dick was trying to prevent.

Even if Gregor was somehow able to bring Tara and Brion home, then what? The country would still be anti-meta. Plus there was the fact that Gregor would have to explain how he found his two siblings, where they had been. The _last_ thing Dick and his work to take down the metahuman trafficking ring needed was to be exposed internationally. Recent laws meant that his actions could be considered illegal enough for people to start to hunt him down. He would become a wanted criminal. His whole team would. If Brion and Tara _didn't_ expose everything about Dick and the others, then they could be considered criminals, too, if for nothing other than impeding the investigations of the law.

More than that, every single hero could be affected by this. There were still enough people who believed that heroes should have the freedom to move around as they liked that the restrictions on heroes wasn't as extreme as it could be. This kind of exposure? Revealing the actions that Dick and the others had taken? That could change people's opinions. The restrictions on heroes could increase even further. Which is the absolute _worst_ thing that would happen.

Batman had a theory that whatever the Light had been working on, whatever grand plan they'd been executing for _at least_ over a decade at that point, was happening _now_. If the heroes couldn't move as they needed to during this crucial time, then it was very possible that the Light could win. That was part of the Light's plan, honestly. Luthor's high-ranking position and Granny Goodness's popularity meant that the government and public spheres of influence had fallen into the Light's hands already.

Clearly, the Rogues had failed to see that. Maybe they had. Maybe they just didn't care. Len certainly never seemed to care about any sort of long-term consequence unless it affected his team.

Well, news flash, it was going to affect his team! The Light had Wally. The Rogues were going to make it impossible to _save_ Wally from them. The _idiots_!

Dick was brought back from his seething by Gregor's voice saying, "_Now that you have both been brought to safety, I should be able to bring you back into the country. It should not be that difficult to convince the people that since metahumans have rescued our Prince and Princess, we should trust metahumans enough to let at least the two of you back into the country._"

Brion's eyes widened at the comment, "I… Gregor…." Violet was staring at Brion with a sort of terrible confusion. Tara was gaping at them all. Dick grimaced; she was probably wondering how to salvage the situation so she could continue to spy on Dick's group.

Gregor's voice echoed over the silence that had fallen on the beach, "_Brion? Tara? Are you not excited?_"

Tara was shaking. Brion didn't appear to even notice as he struggled to explain his feelings to Gregor, "Of-of _course_ we are excited, brother! This was just, so unexpected. Brother… would – would I be able to bring others with me? I mean, I have wonderful friends and a girlfriend now. One is a metahuman, but the rest are, well, other things. I could bring them to Markovia with me!"

"_I… I do not think you would be able to bring them, Brion. They are not the Prince and Princess of Markovia. I could not give an explanation for why they were allowed into the country while other metahumans or enhanced individuals are not. Besides, I am sure that they have their own life in America. You cannot just take them from their life because you want to keep them in yours,_" Gregor answered softly.

Before Brion could look too crushed, Conner jumped in, "Brion, you don't have to be in the same country to be friends with someone, or even to date someone. You know that the actor and former hero Garfield Logan is dating Queen Perdita of Vlatava. The two of them have been dating for almost two years now and have been able to work through that relationship without any serious complications."

"You are trying to get rid of me," Brion accused.

Conner barely fought off an eyeroll, "I'm giving you _options_. Isn't that what we talked about this morning? Today is the day you need to make the big decision about where you're going to go from here."

Abruptly, Tara spoke up from where she was still sitting on the ground, "Gregor, I am so glad to be reconnected with you, but… I have spent the last three years away from you. I have spent it in horrible places, doing horrible things, with horrible people. There have been good people, though, truly good souls. And they were mostly other metahumans like me. I connect with them in a way that I have yet to connect with you in. If others like me cannot be allowed back into my home, then I do not want to be allowed back in either."

"Tara…," Brion said softly.

Gregor sighed over the phone, "_Tara, please. It has been three long years since our family was whole. Even now, with our parents passed away, we cannot be wholly full. But… I am alone here. I want my sister and my brother to come home. I want my _family_. I can understand how you might be suspicious or upset or scared. I want to help. Please, please come home, Tara._"

She had tears in her eyes by the time Gregor finished. Artemis was clutching Dick's arm in an iron grip, clearly already attached to the girl, clearly not wanting to let her leave. Tara took a heaving breath before whispering, "I can't, Gregor. I'm so sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I'm so _sorry_."

Gregor sounded like he was almost in tears, too, when he responded, "_Oh Tara, it is alright. Please, sister, do not cry. Please. It's alright. I understand. We're going to be okay. Alright? It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay._"

Brion's voice was very small when he next spoke, interrupting Gregor's whispered assurances, "So… we are not coming home?"

"I'm sorry!" Tara said, tears clinging to her eyelashes.

Brion let go of Violet to fall to his knees on the sand and wrap both arms around Tara. The phone dropped to the sand next to them. Brion sighed against Tara's hair, "Do not be sorry, sister. I am sorry. I am sorry about – about everything."

"It's okay," Tara whispered back.

Gregor added, "_We will all be alright. Now that we are in communication, we will _stay_ in communication. I will call both of you as often as possible, alright? This is not the end. I will try to find a way to come out and visit as soon as possible. None of us are truly alone._" There was a pause where Dick could physically _feel_ Gregor collecting himself again, "_And Brion? You are going to be telling me about that girlfriend of yours._"

The group broke into laughter, laughing and laughing and laughing simply so they would not cry.

WWWWWW

Wally stared at himself in the mirror for a long, long moment. He hadn't even put the stupid mask on, and he didn't recognize himself. What was there to recognize? He was paler than he had probably ever been in his life – the only times he'd been outside had been for the two missions he'd gone on and both of those had been at night. How long had it been since he had been really, truly outside? Had he been outside at some point during his missing time? Or had it been two years since he'd really been outside? The lack of sun had faded his freckles until they were almost invisible. Dick had always liked Wally's freckles.

Dick had always liked Wally's hair, too, saying that he loved how bright it was. It wasn't bright, now. It was a caramel color that didn't suit Wally at all. It was dull and didn't mesh with his skin and just looked _wrong_. He had never kept his hair this close-shaven before, either. He didn't _like it_. His earrings had been out for so long that the holes had probably closed up. He was skinny to the point of looking skeletal, even with the amount of muscle that Deathstroke forced onto him.

Overall, he looked like a complete mess. He didn't look like _himself_. The streetwise kid who had stole from the Rogues wasn't looking back at him. The loyal member of the Rogues wasn't looking back at him. It was some stranger, some murderer, some broken doll.

What was the point of even fighting? The Rogues and Dick and Barry and everyone else thought that he was dead. No one was looking for him. He wasn't going to escape. Even if he could find a way to escape, he didn't know how to bring Tara with him. There was nothing left for him to do. He was trapped. Well and truly trapped.

Time and time again people had tried to contain him, to take away his freedom when that was the only thing he had. Well, looks like someone had finally succeeded.

Wally stared at the stranger in the mirror and thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad being that stranger. The stranger had dead-looking eyes and a sort of ruthless determination that Wally could use at the moment.

Afterall, Wally was a villain, wasn't he? Why should he care what others thought of him? Why should he care what rules he was supposed to be following? Why did it matter who owned him? Maybe the others would find out he was alive and maybe he would manage to get out and take Tara with him. Maybe he would just die. Maybe none of those things would happen. Maybe all of them would.

Maybe, standing there, looking in the mirror, it didn't really matter all that much anymore.

Wally put the mask on and turned away.


	11. Chapter 11

LLLLLL

Len could feel the other Rogues shifting nervously behind him. He'd snap at them to stop, but he was feeling kind of nervous himself. It was one thing to break into a palace. It was an entirely different thing to be _invited_ to the palace. They'd been ushered almost politely through a back entrance. Len hadn't been sure if that was to avoid scandal or if it was out of some sort of consideration for the Rogues. Normally, he'd assume the scandal option. In this case, however, King Gregor was turning out to be a very unique kind of person.

He flicked his eyes up and arched an eyebrow when Gregor walked into the room, talking on the phone. Gregor glanced over at the Rogues and sent them a somewhat chilly smile before speaking into the phone, "Yes, they are here now. Of course. I cannot explain how much this means to me."

"What do you want?" Len asked, itching to grab his cold gun. He'd been more than a little shocked when the guards didn't take his or his team's weapons, but figured he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Gregor gave him that tight-lipped smile again, "Last time we spoke, we were on rather uneven footing. Now, I find myself in a much better position and, shall we say, feeling charitable now that I could verify your words. Princess Tara is in Nightwing's hands. Unfortunately, something that has happened to Tara leaves her unwilling to come home. I do not know if that is because of something Nightwing did or if it was something that the people who had her before did. At the moment, I do not care. All I care about is getting my siblings back home, where they belong. She said that she would not do that until I could allow all metahumans back into the country."

"Where do we come in?" Len interrupted, eyes going hard. If they guy was wasting their time just to rant about his family problems…

Gregor sighed and said, "I told you that Tara would answer your questions when she came home. That does not appear to be happening anytime soon. I am going to call her today, though, and you can ask her your questions. I managed to get Queen Perdita of Vlatava to help me by distracting the other heroes while I make this phone call."

"And what are you getting out of this?" Len asked incredulously. The other Rogues were shifting behind him, clearly excited about the chance but nervous about what Gregor would want in return.

Pursing his lips, Gregor admitted, "I want to get Tara and Brion home. If that means legalizing metahumans, then I will do what I have to. I started to do some research into the metahuman crisis, including the heinous actions that have occurred in my own kingdom. I have reason to believe that the Reagent, Frederick DeLamb, is the one in charge of the metahuman trafficking ring in Markovia. I have believed that for some time since I knew that it was not my brother who had done this. I need to know more about DeLamb's organization, though. I need to figure out how to expose him in the most public way possible. Otherwise, it will not be possible for me to bring my siblings back, at least not while he is Reagent."

Len's eyebrows rose in surprise, "You want us to help you expose him."

Gregor shrugged, clearly slightly embarrassed, "You can go places that I cannot."

Mark whistled behind them, clearly impressed with Gregor's gall. Gregor blushed again. Len sighed, glancing back at his team. They all nodded to him quickly. He turned back to Gregor, "Okay, you've got a deal. We'll talk details later. When is this call supposed to be happening?"

A look of relief spread through Gregor's face and he opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the phone ringing. He flushed with embarrassment one more time before he answered the phone, putting it quickly onto video chat. He smiled into the camera, momentarily angling it so the people on the screen couldn't see the Rogues. His eyes crinkled and he laughed slightly, "You two certainly look comfortable."

"_You called us on our day off_," an accented male voice responded. That was probably Brion.

Gregor grinned, "So I did. I have something I wish to speak to you two about, but I need to know that you will not tell anyone else about it."

"_Gregor, what is going on?_" Tara's voice asked. Len tensed at the sound of it. This was it. He was finally going to get some answers.

Gregor grimaced, "It is nothing bad, I promise. But I wish to keep these between us, alright? Promise me you will not tell the heroes you are staying with."

"_… I promise_," Tara offered hesitantly.

There was a much longer pause before Brion said, "_I do not understand. I will not make this promise without understanding! Why do you ask us to keep secrets from them?_"

"I know you trust them," Gregor started, "But I do not. I do not know them well enough to trust them. So, please trust _me_ when I ask for this to be kept between us."

"_Fine_," Brion finally let out.

Gregor let out a gusty sigh of release, "Good, thank you. Now, there are some people here with me. They are helping me on a project I am working on. To help me, though, they need to ask you some questions, Tara. Is that alright?" When Tara said yes, Gregor finally turned the phone so all of the Rogues were caught in the picture.

Brion gasped, "_Those are the Rogues! They are villains, Gregor!_"

"I know," Gregor soothed, "I know. But we have reached a common ground. They are the ones who told me that Tara had been rescued, remember? I owe them a great deal, but they still continue to help me."

Tara bit her lip and Len zeroed in on her. He tried to tone down his usual iciness because he wanted the girl to actually answer his questions and scaring her to death didn't quite seem like the way to do it. She was different from what he'd imagined of her. Of course, he'd had very limited information on which to build an imagined version of her from, but still. She was a lot more calculating than he'd expected. Sure, a thing like what she'd gone through would have definitely messed you up and made you more cautious, but this was something else. She was _watchful_, assessing. Len felt like she'd done a threat assessment on every single one of them, including her brothers. It made Len's own suspicions flare slightly.

"Alright, kid," Len said, tried to be as nice and soft as he possibly could, suspicions or not, "I just have a few questions to ask you about where you were held. Before you ended up at the metahuman depots, you were with the League of Shadows, right?" Tara nodded wordlessly. Gregor's jaw clenched, but he didn't say anything. Len continued, "Who was your handler?"

Tara bit her lip before admitting quietly, "_Lady Shiva?_"

Len narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar name. Lady Shiva? Well, it wasn't like Len had kept up with the League of Shadows all that much, especially after Ra's al Ghul stepped down. Maybe this Lady Shiva person was the new person in charge? No, that wouldn't make sense. Why would the head of the organization be personally seeing to the training of the assassins? Wait… didn't al Ghul do that when he was in charge? Len resisted the urge to pinch his nose. He'd have to research this woman when he got back home. Maybe he'd called up Jade.

Len nodded encouragingly at Tara, "Nightwing showed us a video of you with a speedster. Can you tell me more about him?"

"_Nightwing already asked me about him_," Tara said, fingers twitching on her lap. Len's eyes narrowed in on the movement.

Gregor's eyes narrowed as well, but for a different reason, "Nightwing was asking you questions? Why?"

"_He wanted to make sure that no one was still coming after me and that there were no other metas who needed to be rescued_," Tara side, wide-eyed and startled. Brion was giving his brother a startled look as well. Seems like they hadn't figured out that Gregor didn't really like Nightwing all that much.

Len brought the conversation back on topic, "Yeah, well, Nightwing isn't on the greatest terms with us right now. We-,"

Tara interrupted him before he could say much more, "_Is this about Nightwing's boyfriend? Your speedster?_"

Everyone froze – not literally – at her comment. Gregor's mouth had dropped open. Brion hissed, "_Tara!_"

Gregor gaped, "Nightwing is dating Momentum?"

Brion sighed, "_I do not think Tara was supposed to tell you that. I believe that Nightwing meant for that to remain_ private_."_

Len sighed and ended up actually pinching the bridge of his nose this time, "Yes, well, clearly it's too late for that. Yes, Nightwing was dating Momentum before Momentum died. That hardly matters at this point, though, because Momentum is dead. He died being a _hero_, too, so it was his own fault. Nightwing showed us the video of you and the speedster and someone else. We're trying to recruit a new speedster. We've been thinking about it for a while, but there aren't a whole lot of speedsters around. And most of the villainous speedsters are flat out psycho. So, what can you tell me about this other speedster?" It pained Len to speak that way about Wally, but it was the best he could think of at the moment.

Brion cut in before Tara could speak, "_How can you say that? Momentum was your teammate! Does that mean nothing to you? How can you speak so callously about him?_"

"We're villains, kid. That's what we do. Get over it," Mick grunted from behind Len, startling Brion into silence.

Tara tentatively spoke into the silence that had fallen after Mick's words, "_I don't know a lot about him, really. They call him Tachyon. They kept an inhibitor collar on him all the time, like, all the time. I don't… don't think he was working with them willingly. But they also definitely had some sort of leverage over him, so I don't think he'd leave either. I'm sorry I don't know more_."

"That's alright, kiddo," Len said. It was alright. Len could read between the lines pretty well. Yeah, Tachyon was Wally. And the leverage that they had on him was Tara. No doubts about it. The way she was acting? She wanted Wally to be freed. That was clear. She just didn't know how to do it without getting herself and Wally hurt. Len asked one more questions, "Have you ever heard of the Light?"

Tara's brows drew together for a moment before they lifted in remembrance, "_I believe I remember Nightwing talking about a group called the Light. I think Nightwing and some other heroes have been fighting them for a long time._"

"You can say that again," Len snorted, "Even _we've_ been fighting the Light for a long time. Steer clear of them, alright? They'll ruin your life in an instant."

"_Why do you ask about them?_" Brion asked, eyes narrowed. Hm, maybe he wasn't a stubborn brat. Or, well, not entirely. That had actually been an intelligent question.

Len grinned his shark's grin at the prince, "The Light's got real strong ties to the League of Shadows. I wanted to make sure that this speedster wasn't tangled up with the Light, too. That would be _significantly_ too much effort."

"_Oh_," Tara breathed, soft and filled with revelations. She glanced up when everyone else looked at her, "_I just – I am glad that I did not have to deal with them._"

Len nodded at her, "You should be. Alright, that's all I needed from you. I've got to talk to the King now, so scram. Make your goodbyes quick or something." He made a dismissive handwave.

Gregor quickly said goodbye to his siblings, promising to do another real call soon to make up for this quick thing. When he finally hung up, Gregor glared at Len, "Who were you lying to? Me? Or my sister?"

"Your sister," Len answered easily, "Something's off about her."

Gregor's jaw clenched, "Perhaps that was the _three years_ of trauma."

Len rolled his eyes at Gregor's fury, "Yeah, no. I'm almost certain now that the speedster is Momentum and she definitely knows that. She would have lied if I asked it straight like that. My guess? She's not as unconnected from the Light and the League of Shadows as she wants to look. If we wanted the best-case scenario, they found her and are threatening her. If we wanted the worst-case scenario? She's still working with them."

"What?" Gregor squawked. As one, the Rogues levelled him with an unimpressed stare. Gregor swallowed and tried again, "You believe it is the second option. You think that Tara is still working with these awful groups. Is there a way you can prove that or not?"

"If we've noticed it, then Nightwing's definitely noticed it," Hartley muttered.

Len nodded to him, "Sounds about right. Can you tap into Nightwing's stuff? Get us whatever he's recording?"

Hartley grimaced, "No way. Nightwing's stuff is top-notch Bat gear. Plus, he's, like, one of the best hackers ever." Hartley's grimace shifted into a slightly more optimistic look, "Well, hm… you know my boyfriend and I have been working on combining our skills, right? We've worked a little bit on using his magic and my electronics skills to hack into things. I might be able to do it if I work with him. Are you willing to bring him on board?"

"Tentatively," Len decided, "Don't tell him what it's about. Just tell him that you need it done."

"Should I get started now or do you need me for anything else?" Hartley asked, already angling his body away.

"Go ahead and get started. Have Mirror Master bring you home and work from there. We'll catch you up when we're done here," Len instructed. Sam and Hartley both nodded to him before heading off to Gregor's large mirror. He turned back to Gregor, "My guess is that she's not working with them entirely willingly. She certainly hasn't had a great last three years. And she's definitely trying to make sure that we pick up Momentum even if she thinks we don't think it's him. As for the rest of us, we'll start looking into your Reagent problem. What information do you have so far?" Len paused before adding slyly, "A little funding wouldn't go remiss either." Mark snickered behind him.

Gregor sighed, looking seconds away from rubbing vigorously at his forehead, "I regret this. I regret everything."

It didn't stop him from giving them the information on DeLamb and a sizeable amount of cash.

The Rogues searched. And searched. And searched. The weeks slipped away, mounting the frustration among not just the Rogues, but also Gregor. The longer this _stupid_ search took, the longer Wally was in the hands of those psychopaths. Of course, Len had known that it wasn't going to be easy. He'd understood that the heroes had been searching for these guys for years and years and years. But Hartley and Tim had managed to unearth a good portion of Dick's research into the Light, which was good. And the Rogues had access to different groups than the heroes did. They had access to different routes of information, routes that were more likely to talk about villain stuff than whatever the heroes use.

_Finally_, all that work led to a payoff: there was word that the Light was putting codename Tachyon on a high-risk mission later that day. If the Rogues hurried, there was a chance that they could get to him. Hopefully.

Please, _please_ let them get to him in time.

WWWWWW

Wally sighed as he settled into the plane seat after going through his mission briefing several times. He felt wrung-out. Exhausted. This was almost as bad as when he was a kid and working for the Light for the first time. They were swinging him from missions to lab to training to mission to lab to training. He never got a chance to actually _rest_. Any sort of weight he managed to get onto him was whipped right off the next time he had training. Deathstroke was _brutal_ about that kind of thing. About most things, honestly, but especially about that. Wally figured that Slade probably saw training as executive permission to beat the living daylights out of him.

Wally shook his head and sighed again, burying his face in his hands. He was so _tired_. Couldn't he just rest? He wouldn't even be able to sleep on this journey because it was so short – he was almost there already. It would have been even shorter if he'd been able to _run_. Guess the Light wasn't _that_ stupid. Too bad, honestly.

Jeez, even his thoughts were tired. Wally passed his hands over his face one more time before blowing out a breath of air and standing up to pace around the plane. He didn't want to go into the bathroom. They'd removed the mirrors in the rooms he frequented because he'd taken to smashing them whenever he saw them. He didn't like looking at himself. He didn't like what he'd become.

(The mirror smashing didn't start until the day after Ben left, finally free from the Light. Wally figured there was probably a correlation between the mirror smashing and the fact that he was left alone in a place surrounded by people who saw him either as a target or an experiment.)

It felt like only moments later before the pilot called back and said they were landing. _Finally_. Wally wanted to get off. He wanted to do whatever it was the Light wanted him to do and then he – then he wanted to… to… To what? It wasn't like there was anything to look forward to. If he was lucky, he'd go to medical before he went to the labs. He certainly wouldn't be able to go back to his and Tara's rooms to just _rest_. Why finish the mission quickly? Why even bother finishing the mission at all?

Abruptly, Wally thought of Tara's face. Luthor had allowed the two of them to talk quietly for a moment so they could both be assured of each other's safety. Tara had looked better than she had ever looked during the time Wally was with her. Relief had completely melted any tension in her shoulders when she saw him. It was the most carefree he'd seen her, too. It had been good to see her like that. Really good. It made Wally believe that Tara had an actual chance. Hopefully she'd be able to see that she was better off somewhere else. Hopefully it was enough to get her to forget about him. She didn't need him dragging her down, not now that she was essentially free.

Still, she was the reason Wally was bothering to finish the mission. She was the reason he was going to put up with all of this. He couldn't give up. For her sake, Wally _couldn't_ give up.

Taking a shuddering breath, Wally blew it back out again, shaking his head and hands, jumping up and down slightly like a wet dog. Once he felt sufficiently motivated, He jetted forward out of the plane, instantly moving into the waiting vehicle. It was probably the largest thing he had _ever_ driven, and he was very glad that Len was so insistent on making sure that the Rogues knew how to hotwire and drive every type of vehicle out there. He'd hated it at the time because he could just _run_, but Len had insisted.

Thinking of the Rogues made Wally's heart hurt, so he ignored it and started the truck, getting it moving, slowly at first and then faster and faster. _Why_ he was robbing one of Goode World Studios' buildings was beyond him. He'd heard Luthor and Slade arguing about it, but all they'd said was that Vandal Savage was suspicious of Granny Goodness's activities and was concerned that she was doing something behind their back. Wally had _no clue_ who Granny Goodness was. Was she a supervillain? What kind of supervillain was called _that_? It certainly wasn't one that Wally had ever heard of. But she had to be a supervillain if she was willing to go behind the Light's back on something. Or if she was even working with the Light. And Goode World Studios? Was that a thing? What all had Wally _missed_ in the two years he'd been gone?

The thought was driven from his head when the building came into sight. Wally sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. He really, _really_ didn't want to do it this way. Luthor had been insistent, though. He needed to cause as much damage as possible and he needed the big truck anyways to move what he was going to be moving. Why? He had no idea.

Taking one more bracing breath, Wally pressed his foot into the gas pedal as hard as he could. Seconds later – _bam_! There was an enormous impact that jarred Wally down to his bones, even through the extra fortified truck. Wally gave himself a moment to get his breath back before he stumbled out of the truck. He tensed himself for a moment before releasing, bones feeling like they were rearranging himself.

Breathing through his nose, Wally stalked through the warehouse, practically running. Where on earth was this robot thing they wanted him to steal? It was supposed to be quite large, so he shouldn't be having this much of an issue finding it.

Frowning, Wally narrowed his eyes at his surroundings. There was… there was something around him. He could _feel_ it. Some sort of buzzing. A kinetic energy hovering over the air, brushing tantalizingly against his suit. Wally did another circle. What was it? Shrugging, Wally reached into one of the pockets on the suit, quickly finding the EMP they'd given him. He'd listed it as a necessary resource because, honestly, it was. EMPs had saved his butt more than once.

Wally activated the EMP, silently seething at the thought that his facemask and inhibitor collar were blocked against the EMPs that the Light used. Using the EMP worked, though. Like a mirage fading, the reality Wally could see disappeared, leaving a slightly different warehouse. The Overlord robot thing was sitting almost right in front of him. It was _enormous_. Wally sighed at the sight. Really? Sure, he'd stolen big things before for the challenge of it. But really?

Wally took one step closer to it – and fell right through the floor.

A yelp escaped his lips the second he noticed the boom tube open under his feet. That yelp turned into a desperate scream. He was _burning_. His very _soul_ was burning. What was this? What – what _was_ this?

Wally screamed and screamed and screamed, unable to do much more than twitch pitifully. Then, suddenly, a box appeared in front of him. (Some part in the back of his mind was laughing hysterically because, honestly, what had his life become?). There was an old lady staring at him thoughtfully, head tilted to the side. What were the odds that this was Granny Goodness? Old ladies should _not_ be able to look that evil, honestly.

Suddenly (mercifully), the box that the old lady was standing in expanded until Wally was inside it. He fell to his hands and knees, shaking and shuddering and trying to pretend like he wasn't falling apart. The old lady crouched down in front of him, smirking slightly when he flinched away. She patted his head and then stood back up, looking down at him, "You know, the X-Pit really is only to punish naughty little children. Are you naughty? I know you're certainly working for naughty people. You're Luthor's little pet, aren't you? Or are you Deathstroke's? I never can remember."

Wally managed to push through a rough throat and trembling lips, a quiet, "Not a pet."

The old lady smirked again, "Are we trying to be rebellious? No, no, no, we can't have that! Now, before I punish you again, I must ask you a few questions. Just tell good old Granny the truth and all this unpleasantness will be over, alright sweetie?" Wally kind of nodded and she beamed at him, "Good boy! Do you work for Luthor or Deathstroke?"

"Don't know," Wally mumbled, "Probably Luthor. Don't know."

"That's quite alright! Okay, next question! What were you trying to steal, child?" Granny Goodness asked, crouching down again.

Wally blinked rapidly, starting to finally regain feeling in his limbs, "Can't say."

Granny Goodness frowned exaggeratedly, "That won't do. You listen when your elders tell you to do something! Tell me what you were trying to steal."

"Can't say," Wally repeated. Even though this crazy chick's X-Pit or whatever she'd called that horrible goo or whatever Wally had fallen into, he didn't know what else she had up her sleeve. He _did_ know what Luthor had up his sleeve and that was Tara's safety. Wally wasn't going to risk it.

"I'm only going to ask one more time, now, dearie," Granny Goodness smiled, all teeth, "What were you trying to steal?"

Wally clenched his jaw and repeated desperately, "I _can't_ say." He paused for a split second before adding, "They'll hurt her."

Granny Goodness practically melted in front of him, putting a hand to her chest dramatically, "Aw, that's so sweet! Good boys protect people, of course. Who are you protecting, dearie? Oh, never you mind, I'm sure you can't say that either. Well, I suppose as long as you didn't actually steal anything, you weren't really _that_ naughty. And you've been so well-behaved here as well!" Her eyes glittered as she stared down at him, something ferally hungry in her eyes that made something in Wally shrivel in fear, "But perhaps I _should_ punish you just a little. You _were _being at least a little naughty after all. And your masters were certainly being naughty. I can't punish them, unfortunately, but maybe punishing their child will have the same effect."

Wally wanted to protest, wanted to scream at her to stop, wanted to _scream_, period. He didn't get a chance before the box was retracting and he was back in the X-Pit. There was a suspended moment where the horror filled him so completely that he didn't feel anything, but then that horror faded slightly and the pain came flooding in, shooting through every nerve in his body, fireworks of pain compounded with a bone-deep ache compounded with a spattering of knife-slice pains. Everything hurt and burned and _what was this_? He screamed and screamed and screamed.

He didn't know how long he was in there. It might have been a minute. It might have been a year. The pain washed everything else away. There was only him and the pain. Something in him gave way under that pain, collapsing inwards like a jenga tower that had one too many holes in it.

Then there was a sharp, stinging _jerk_, a flash of light, a tumbling sensation. Abruptly, so abruptly that he wasn't even sure that it really happened, that the pain was even gone (would it ever be gone?), he was back in the warehouse, blinking rapidly. There was a scream of rage. Something exploded. There was a huge truck sitting somewhere. Everything was spinning. Wally vaguely realized that he'd slammed headfirst into the corner of something when he'd fallen back into the real world. There was blood around him. Was it his? Was he bleeding? Was he… was…

There was chaos for a moment. Wally vaguely made out an orange and black masked person facing off against an old lady. What a bizarre sight…

Looking at it made Wally feel ill. His head spun for a long moment. He blinked into the space around him. What? What was happening? He blinked rapidly again. The – the outdoors. Fresh air. Fresh – fresh air would help, right?

Briefly, the words 'very, very bad concussion' floated past his consciousness, brushing the edge of his mind and being forcefully pushed away. He wobbled and tripped and spun, not sure which way was which. He finally managed to stumble outside. He desperately gulped down air, not sure if it was making him feel better or worse. For a moment, he had to just _breathe_. Then something was crawling up his throat and he had to lean to the side to throw up.

His head tilted slightly forward once he'd stepped back from the puke. He still felt like he was spinning. There was water in front of him and a warehouse behind him. The – the water was more interesting. He liked water. Wally stumbled another few feet forward, watching the shifting waves with fascination.

All of a sudden, there was a loud noise breaking the natural silence of the area. It took him a long time to recognize it as a human voice. The voice was coming from the person with the orange and black mask. Wally felt fear when he looked at him. He didn't want to be near the mask person. Wally took an aborted step backwards. He stumbled and almost fell into the water. It took another few moments for him to realize that the mask person was shouting, "Run! Run, you idiot!"

That… that wasn't very nice.

There was a deep, _soul_ deep _boom_ that echoed out from the warehouse after that. Wally watched with wide eyes as a sort of fire erupted from the warehouse, proceeded by a line of debris and dust carried on an invisible field. It wasn't invisible, though, was it? Or was it invisible? Wally couldn't necessarily _see_ it. But he could feel it. It was like that feeling of kinetic energy he'd experienced in the warehouse (that felt like years and years ago already) except a hundred – a _thousand_ – times stronger.

The masked man cursed loudly and changed direction, diving behind some sort of concrete structure just as the wave hit him, grunting as the concrete split, dropping part onto the man. Wally just stood there, watching the wave coming towards him, fire licking its edges. It was _beautiful_. It felt like something, like something half-remembered.

The wave hit him with a force Wally couldn't really comprehend, physically picking him up and _throwing_ him into the ocean with enough strength to break ribs. He was lucky he hit the water quickly, though, otherwise the flames would have gotten him.

As Wally fell into the water, all he knew was the darkness closing into him and the sinking feeling of his heavy clothes pulling him further into the water.

LLLLLL

All the Rogues knew was that Wally had drove a truck into a building (they'd meant to interrupt him on his way back to wherever he was dropping off whatever he was stealing) and he hadn't left the way he'd come and the building had exploded with a force that rattled their bones even as far away as they were.

If Wally was still in that building (where else could he have gone?), there was no way he would have survived.


	12. Chapter 12

LLLLLL

Luthor's fists clenched and his teeth ground together as he watched the tape in front of him. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This _wasn't_ supposed to happen. He had been _promised_ that Granny Goodness was being distracted, that she wouldn't be able to respond to any sort of potential threat to Overlord. He'd been assured that they would be able to get it into a safe location where they could pick their own battle before she could react to its disappearance. How had she even realized that there was a threat to Overlord? It wasn't like Wally's maneuvering had triggered any alarms. Luthor had been keeping close watch of that through the machinery in Wally's mask.

But if no clear alarms were triggered, then how did Granny Goodness know to react? Did she have some sort of bond with Overlord that they hadn't been informed of? Luthor was going to _kill_ his informant if that was the case.

This was supposed to be a simple mission. It was supposed to be an easy in-and-out, quick assignment. All it was supposed to do was show Granny Goodness and Darkseid that the Light was not to be trifled with, that they could fight back if Darkseid decided that their goals no longer aligned. If he decided to keep information from him like he'd started doing. Darkseid and his minions had gone crazy, rushing off and focusing on the _Outsiders_ and the _Team_ like they actually mattered. What was their obsession with those kids? Of course, Luthor himself was interested in the progress of the Outsiders, but that was only because they posed a direct threat to the anti-hero legislation he was trying to introduce. Well, not necessarily anti-_hero_. More… anti-unregulated hero legislation. If the Light had a greater control of the heroes, then they would be able to plan for Savage's predictions that much more.

But that wasn't the way the mission happened. Granny Goodness had somehow figured out that Wally was in her warehouse and had activated the X-pit to take him out. Luthor had _seethed_ when he noticed that, sending in the nearest possible agent. Luckily, there had been one only an hour or so away. _Unluckily_, the agent was Deathstroke. The man was starting to get on Luthor's nerves. He thought that just because he had taken a spot on the Light Council that he was big stuff, that he was powerful.

He didn't understand that it was _Luthor_ who held the power. Deathstroke was being belligerent and obtuse which could have been simply amusing if it wasn't for the fact that it was affecting Wally. Wally was _Luthor's_. There was no doubt about that. The kid had been Luthor's since he was first struck by lightning. Wally resisted that, but it was the honest truth. And, besides, who liked prey that just sat there and took it.

That was part of what worried him so much about the amount of time Wally spent stuck in that X-pit. He was in there for over an hour. That could break people. And Wally had been so close to breaking already. Luthor needed him to still have _some_ spirit. As much as he liked Wally as a test subject, he was just as useful as a Rogue. If Granny Goodness's _lesson_ took that part out of Wally, then Luthor was declaring war.

Finally, Slade made it to the warehouse, leaping nimbly into the room and aiming a flying kick at Granny Goodness. It wasn't enough to do any sort of damage to her, but it was enough to distract her long enough for Wally to be released from the X-pit. Luthor hissed in annoyance when he saw Wally smash his head against something hard. His eyes widened in horror when Wally started wandering away, out towards the docks.

Furiously, he spoke into the comms, "Deathstroke! You are here to _retrieve_ Tachyon! Go _get_ him!"

Deathstroke just cursed in response, dodging a blow from Granny Goodness. Luthor's lip curled in disgust at the sight of her. It was… disturbing to see an old lady fighting the way she fought. It was disturbing to see an old lady fighting at all, of course.

Luthor worried at his hands the longer Deathstroke fought Granny Goodness. Thankfully, it seemed like Wally was willing to just stand at the edge of the water, gazing into it. It was, of course, worrying to see how intensely Wally stared at that water. There was always a constant concern for Luthor that Wally would consider suicide as an option. He had not ever seemed suicidal in the past, but Luthor wouldn't put it past him to start. Wally certainly wasn't in a particularly good situation.

Deathstroke cursed again, loud and intense. Luthor tore his attention from Wally and looked back at Deathstroke's camera. His eyes widened when he realized that Overlord was gone. When had Granny Goodness moved it? _Where_ had she moved it? Then he realized that Overlord had been replaced with a bomb. A _big_ bomb. Luthor cursed alongside Deathstroke, breathing a sigh of relief when the man started running towards Wally instead of the truck. He'd been concerned that Slade would leave Wally, but luckily it seemed like Slade at least somewhat knew of Wally's importance. It might just be because Slade's pet rock had formed such an attachment to the speedster, but Luthor didn't care. As long as it meant that Slade somewhat prioritized Wally's safety, Luthor would accept it.

But then he cursed again when Slade gave up on trying to reach Wally and instead dove behind cover. That _idiot_! Luthor was going to _kill him_ when he got back. Well, Luthor mused as he saw the piece of concrete collapse onto Slade, _if_ he got back.

Then there were much more important things to worry about when Wally fell into the water. Thankfully, the suit had a tracker and the mask was designed to seal to Wally's face and provide some oxygen. It wouldn't be enough for if Wally was under for a long time, but it would be enough to keep him alive for a little bit.

Now, all Luthor needed to do was wait for the tracker to stop moving. He would get Wally back. He always did.

WWWWWW

Wyynde blinked as something shot past him in the water. Was that a swimmer? Wyynde had realized that he was getting relatively close to the coast of California, but he hadn't realized that it was _that_ close. As he watched the figure fading away, he realized that it definitely _wasn't_ a swimmer. The figure wasn't moving.

Eyes widening in alarm, Wyynde raced after the figure. The current was pushing through the water strongly, but luckily it was in the direction he wanted to go. That current was likely the reason the body was moving so quickly.

Finally, Wyynde ended up swimming next to the figure. His eyebrows rose incredulously when he saw that it was a male human, face entirely covered and caramel-colored hair flattened against the strange black mask (at least, Wyynde hoped it was a mask; Kaldur had told him some about the odd forms metahumans could take, but Wyynde had yet to really interact with any like that). Quickly, Wyynde grabbed the figure under the armpits, shooting upwards in the water. The faster he got this person to the surface, the faster he could revive them. Wyynde tensed when he realized that he couldn't feel a heartbeat beneath his fingers. It spurred him on faster.

They surfaced several miles offshore. There wasn't time for the two of them to get back to shore to revive the man. Wyynde quickly leaned back and allowed his powers to come to the surface. He made a quick and dirty table of sorts out of the water around them, standing on the edge of it and settling the man onto the center. Wyynde took precious seconds trying to remember what he was supposed to do with drowning humans. He didn't want to waste time, but he also didn't want to do it wrong and hurt the person, either. Biting his lip, Wyynde decide that he should push on the chest. That made sense, right? Because water got into the lungs of the person. Or, well, something like that. He was pretty sure.

Quickly, Wyynde started pounding on the chest of the person, trying his hardest not to hit too hard. There was a sharp gurgling noise and a cut-off choke before the person went silent. Wyynde's eyes went wide. Had he done something wrong or was it something else? Peering closer at the man, Wyynde noticed that he had something wrapped around his throat. That probably wasn't helping. Looking even closer, Wyynde identified the item as an inhibitor collar.

For the first time, Wyynde looked the man over entirely. This… looked like a villain, if he was being honest. The all-black outfit and the inhibitor collar? This looked like someone who had been captured and then threw themselves into the water to escape. But… there weren't any handcuffs. Wouldn't there be handcuffs?

It didn't matter, Wyynde decided. This was still a living person who was currently _dying_. Good or bad, he didn't deserve to die like this. Not when Wyynde could help him. Quickly, Wyynde removed the mask, tossing it carelessly into the ocean. He gripped the inhibitor collar and _yanked_.

The collar crumpled and broke in his hands, but it also shocked him. The strength and unexpectedness of the shock was enough to force him to emit a sharp yelp as his concentration shattered and the table dissolved back into regular water below them. He cursed as the person he was trying to rescue expelled a huge amount of water just to inhale another large portion as he was dumped unceremoniously into the water.

Wyynde threw the inhibitor collar as far away as he could, glaring at it for a moment. He let out a sigh of relief as it fell into the water without adding a shock to the liquid. Wyynde grabbed the person around the middle again, conjuring the table and setting the man back on top. This time, it only took a few chest compressions before the man started throwing up water, coughing and hacking. Wyynde quickly turned him on his side, alternating between rubbing the man's back and tapping him hard enough to expel the liquid.

After several worryingly long minutes of this, the man laid back, panting hard but _breathing_. Wyynde allowed himself to breath a sigh of relief. That relief turned quickly to alarm when he noticed that there was blood on the table he'd made. Carefully, he lifted the man's head, probing gently with his fingers until he met a ragged gash. The man in his arms flinched and let out a low moan but made no other movement. Wyynde waited to see if he'd protest again before reaching back to the injury. He frowned thoughtfully when he realized that the injury was a lot smaller than before. Was this person an enhanced healer? He'd heard that there were some metahumans like that. Well, Wyynde mentally shrugged, that meant less work and stress for him.

It wasn't long before the man woke up fully. Wyynde watched him carefully as the man hissed and sat up, hand tenderly probing the spot on the back of his skull, frowning when his hand came back speckled with a mix of dried and wet blood. The man put his face in his hands, letting out another hiss.

Wyynde spoke up when it appeared that the man wasn't going to say anything, "Are you alright?"

The man jumped, almost sliding right off the table. Wyynde reached out on instinct but the man flinched back. Wyynde raised his hands in supplication, trying to show that he meant no harm. Kaldur had said that this was what humans did in this kind of situation. The man gave him a wild-eyed stare, eyes a startling shade of green. Eventually, he rasped, "I don't know where I am."

"I am not surprised," Wyynde said, trying to give him a kind smile, "You had fallen into the ocean. You are currently several miles into the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. Where did you come from? I can swim you back."

"I – I don't know," the man groaned, putting his head back in his hands, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't _know_."

"Okay, that is okay," Wyynde soothed, panicking slightly. He was _not_ good at this sort of thing. Garth was just better suited to this kind of interaction. Wyynde tried again, "Can you tell me your name? We can get back to shore and get help."

The man frowned, hands starting to shake as, no doubt, the cold began to set in, "I – my name is… Tachyon?"

"Tachyon?" Wyynde repeated dully. That didn't sound like a human name. Well, he didn't _really_ know what a human name sounded like. The ones he knew were things like Dick, Artemis, Roy, Will. Things like that. Not Tachyon. It was pretty, though. Wyynde liked it. He gently pressed for more information, "Do you have a last name?"

"I don't _know_," Tachyon gasped, hands going back up to his head again.

"Did you hit your head?" Wyynde asked in concern, resisting the urge to poke at the wound again. He knew it was a dumb question, but he needed to get a better picture of what was happening.

Tachyon's hands formed into fists, gripping his short caramel hair tightly as he hissed, "I don't _know_. I don't know anything. I don't know. I don't know. There was – there was a light. A place. It was _beautiful_. I want to go back… but I can't. I can't go back. Why can't I go back? Where am I? I don't know who I am! I – no… I _did_ hit my head. There was… boom tube. Boom. Explosion. Warehouse. I… Granny?"

Wyynde blinked rapidly at the influx of information, "Oh, ah, alright. I will swim you to shore and then I can contact the Justice League. I know them quite well. They will be able to help you, I promise."

"No!" Tachyon shouted, giving Wyynde the crazy eyes again, "No heroes! Heroes are _bad_!"

"They are not bad," Wyynde argued, feeling a bit offended. Kaldur was _definitely_ not bad.

Tachyon shook his head rapidly, "No, no, no, no. I can't. I can't. I don't know _why_, but I can't."

Wyynde sighed. This conversation was only going to go in circles. This man was clearly confused and disoriented. He didn't even have a solid memory! Also, Wyynde still wasn't sure if this was a villain or not based on the inhibitor collar. Although it hurt him to do so, he was going to have to trick this man. Wyynde gave what he hoped was a soothing smile before saying, "Alright. That is alright. I will not bring you to heroes. I will bring you to a safe place and then call my mate. He is much better with humans than you are. He should be able to help heal you."

Tachyon stared at him for a long moment, breathing hard. He was really starting to shake now and Wyynde was getting concerned. Finally, Tachyon nodded softly. Abruptly, his eyes slid shut. Wyynde yelped again, reaching out to grab Tachyon's arm, "Hey, hey! I need you to not fall asleep, okay? Please?" Tachyon didn't answer. Instead, he just slumped onto the water table. Wyynde had to take a moment to make sure he was still breathing. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that Tachyon was. Wyynde suddenly had a much greater appreciation for what Kaldur and the other heroes did. Of course, Wyynde was a member of the King's guard and he would help with the huge fights that required a lot of heroes, but he had never done this simple, casual rescue of a human before. It was harder than he had expected. Some part of him had never really realized that heroes had to deal with the aftermath of saving someone, too. It was exhausting.

With that thought in mind, Wyynde started swimming for shore.

DDDDDD

Whatever Dick thought was going to happen when he brought both teenaged teams back to M'gann and Conner's for a movie night after training, being ambushed by the Rogues wasn't even on the list. For a second, Dick and the others just gaped at the very comfortable looking villains.

Embarrassingly enough, it was M'gann that was the first to react. She quickly started floating above the ground, eyes glowing menacingly as she held a hand out in front of her. She demanded, "What are you doing in my house?"

"We're here for that one," Digger commented, jerking his head towards Dick.

Dick had to do a double take at the sound of Digger's voice. Last he'd heard, the man had been arrested and working on Waller's X Force team. When had the Rogues had the chance to break him out? Finally, Dick got his voice back, blinking at the villains, "You literally have my phone number. Why did you feel the need to break into M'gann's house?"

Behind them, Eduardo let out a strangled noise, "Why are we okay with the Rogues knowing where people live and knowing secret identities?"

Dick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, hating the Rogues for making him revert to using one of Bruce's common coping mechanisms, "The Rogues are closer to the hero world than anyone likes to admit. They have – had – _have_ several connections to heroes."

"Had," Len drawled, "That's what we're here to talk to you about."

Dick felt a chill go down his spine. What did they mean? What could they possibly mean? They couldn't be talking about Wally. Unless… well, they probably assumed that the other heroes didn't know about Dick's search for Wally. For once, they were actually showing some sort of tact. Sighing, Dick rubbed his hand over his face one last time before saying, "Alright, we'll go somewhere to talk."

"We're comfortable here, actually. Tell the rest of your buddies to scram," Len drawled.

Artemis growled, "No way. You talk to all of us or none of us."

Len turned a glare onto Artemis, the disdain somehow translating through the darkened lens, "I wasn't asking."

"Okay," Dick interrupted before they could start an actual fight, "I'll talk to you here. But I am keeping some of my friends with me."

M'gann offered quietly, "I can take the kids out back. Conner and Artemis can stay here with you." Dick nodded to her in thanks. She nodded back before taking on the task of ushering the others off. Dick noted that Tara somehow seemed the most reluctant to go, biting her lip and staring back at them with unbridled curiosity. What could she possibly be thinking? Did she want to listen in on the conversation? For what purpose? To tell the Light or for her own interests? There were too many unknowns with her loyalty at the moment. Eventually, though, she left with the others.

Artemis was the first to speak into the silence of the room, "How did you get free?" Dick recalled with a wince that Digger had fought the Gamma Squad of the Team recently and that it… hadn't been pretty.

Digger glared at them, "Screw you, pretty girl." Artemis bared her teeth in response.

Since it looked like Len had no intentions of stopping the two of them from tearing each other apart, Dick stepped between them and said firmly, "We'll talk about that later. For now, what did you come here to talk to us about?"

"Tachyon is MIA," Len said, voice as even and unemotional as ever, "Presumed dead. Last we saw of him, he was in a building that went kaboom."

"No," Dick said, "There's always more than one way out of a building."

Len shrugged, "Sure. But the Light's doesn't have him and neither do we. Where else would he have gone if he had survived that explosion? It's been over a day."

"So you just gave up?" Dick asked furiously, trying to battle against the tears threatening the corners of his eyes. Why were they saying these things? Why? There was no point in telling Dick this. It had been a _day_. That was it. And they were giving up. Already. Did they even care about him?

Len's eyes were cold and unforgiving, "We don't _give up_. Of course we're still looking, if only for a body to bury. If only to be completely sure that this Tachyon actually _is_ Wally."

Mick jumped in, a fraction warmer, "Dick, that's not the only thing we've got to talk to you about."

"I don't care," Dick said, feeling like a child but not particularly caring at the moment. He was twenty years old and never had a normal childhood. He was allowed to act like a kid every once in a while. He shouldn't be expected to always be the responsible one.

Mark sighed, low and aggravated, "Look, it has to do with your whole kids crusade thing, alright? We're actually trying to be helpful for once."

Conner put a comforting hand on Dick's shoulder and stepped slightly forward, "And we appreciate that."

He opened his mouth to say more, but Artemis interrupted, "Yeah right! You're never helpful unless it's beneficial to you. What are you getting out of this? And cut the whole cold-hearted villains act, alright? We know you're softies. You don't need to act tough for us."

Len's glare somehow increased in intensity, "You want to know what we're getting out of this? You want us to stop acting tough? How's this, then? I know you all are obsessed with Wally, but he's not our only kid. Cameron is out there, working for the Light again, helping kidnap metas for the depots because everything that could have gone wrong after Wally's death _has_ gone wrong. We just rescued Digger from somewhere worse than those metahuman depots! Argus has gone just as insane as the rest of the world and that Waller woman with it! We've got concrete proof that Argus and Reagent Frederick DeLamb _and_ Luthor's new Infinity, Inc. kids are all linked to the Light."

"What?" Artemis asked, clearly faltering, "Since when were you even looking into that?"

"Since we found out that our kid might still be alive and with the Light!" Hartley snarled, "Since Digger got a _bomb_ planted in his neck by a psychopath!"

"Since _what_?" Artemis shrieked.

Len sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I hate bringing the rest of you with me on things like this. You can't be cool about anything. You've always got to butt in and complicate matters."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. You'd just talk in so many circles that everyone would be confused." Len sighed aggravatedly again.

Dick scrubbed a hand through his hair and finally sat down, "Okay. Let's start from the beginning. Or, well, let's start with what happened to Digger."

Dick watched as Len nodded to Digger to speak. The man nodded back before turning to the three heroes, "You know that Flasher caught me a while back, yeah? Well, these lumps were fighting and weren't able to get to me before I got to Belle Reve. And you know it takes longer to break out of Belle Reve than it does to break out of transport. So, I got stuck there. Waller's got control of the new warden and she does this thing where she creepy watches certain prisoners. Me, Black Manta, Slipknot, and Monsieur Mallah caught her attention, unfortunately. I think she grabbed some girls, too, but the gossip doesn't get through the wall separating us so easily. But she took us, tied us up, and injected little bombs into our necks. She told us that we were going to do work for the US government under this Flagg guy's command. If we didn't obey, then she or he would blow the bomb. Slipknot decided to test that and, well, _kaboom_."

Artemis frowned, biting her lip, "Kaldur had talked to Amanda Waller after you three were put back in your cells. She mentioned Task Force X but hadn't gone into much detail. We didn't know that she was… was…," Artemis trailed off.

Digger finished for her, a sneer covering his face, "You didn't know she was killing us. Should it have mattered? Should that have been a concern when you found out that she was taking us and forcing us to fight? Isn't the that same thing you're trying to stop with the metas!"

"Argus is a government organization," Dick replied automatically, brain still stuck on the matter of Wally. Where was he? He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. Dick wouldn't accept it. There was no possible way.

Mark through his hands in the air, "So? What's that supposed to matter? Lex Luthor is the Secretary-General of the UN and we all know how evil he is. And we literally _just_ told you that Argus was working with the Light. It's the same thing as your metahuman trafficking thing. Just with villains. Oh, well, that's probably why you don't care. It doesn't matter if it's villains that are the ones who are dying, does it? You're probably just glad you won't have to deal with them anymore." Off to the side, Digger was getting rapidly paler, hands clenching into fists on his lap. Hartley put a comforting hand on Digger's shoulder.

Dick sighed, scrubbing at his face. The Rogues were right. This deserved as much attention as any other issue the Team and the Outsiders were facing at the moment. Especially if it could help expose the Light completely. Argus could be the weak link they needed to exploit.

"What do you expect us to do about it?" Conner asked.

"You have the clout to just _expose_ her," Hartley said slowly, like he was talking to a child.

"It's not that easy," Artemis responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hartley rolled his eyes, "And why isn't it that easy?"

"The reason we didn't just expose her right at the beginning is because she's got information on us, too. If we expose Task Force X, then she'll expose the Team. We can't afford that. The Team has been one of our greatest weapons in the years since it was formed. Having that covert ops team has saved so many people. And before you try to say anything else, remember that it was the Team that helped save Wally from the Light the first time," Artemis finished ruthlessly. Hartley's jaw clenched, but he didn't end up saying anything else.

"There is, actually, a reason for our secrecy, you know," Dick said, looking pointedly at Len, "There were reasons why we kept Tara a secret, too."

Len rolled his eyes, "What big reason is there? The fact that she's a spy for the Light or whoever else? What could you have possibly gained from Gregor by keeping that from him? He's much more willing to take an active role in the situation now that he knows what she is."

Dick choked on air, ice crawling down his spine. How did they know that? Where were they getting all of this information? Dick was more than a little disturbed at how quickly the Rogues could gather information that took the heroes significantly more time to find, if they could find it at all. This was honestly ridiculous! What else did they know, though? If the Rogues found out about the secret communication between Batman Inc., the Justice League, the Team, and Dick's network, would they expose it? That would be the actual worst thing. They couldn't afford that. Dick and the others needed the other heroes around them to keep trusting them. They needed to ensure that the outside world was completely unaware of the machinations of their large group.

Artemis glanced around them worriedly before hissing, "How do you know that?"

"Please," Len drawled, rolling his eyes, "It's obvious after just a single conversation with her. Especially when the topic turns to the speedster she worked with. She's so clearly lying about him that it isn't even amusing. Wherever that speedster is, no matter what stage of living or dead he's in, he wasn't working for the Light willingly. Tara was being used as leverage against him. She wanted us to rescue him. That's the only way she could think of to get him out."

"When were you talking to Tara?" Conner asked incredulously, looking like he was desperately trying to keep up with the conversation.

Len frowned, "A while ago. Gregor arranged it."

"When were you talking to _King Gregor_?" Conner added, shaking his head.

Len gave him a disappointed stare, "Around the same time, clearly. Remember, we're the ones who told Gregor that you all had Tara? We've been in contact since then. We're working on taking down the Light together since clearly you heroes can't manage it."

Dick narrowed his eyes, "Not anymore. I'm going to talk with King Gregor. He should know not to associate with you anymore. I don't know what angle you're playing here, but I'm going to make sure it doesn't end up with him getting caught in the crossfire of something." Something wasn't adding up. The Rogues weren't snitches. Why would they willingly tell Dick and two other heroes that King Gregor was purposefully and knowingly working with villains? That was as good as snitching. He also knew that there was no way that they would have given up hope that Wally was dead, especially without a body. They'd all made that mistake before and they weren't going to do the same thing twice.

What was their angle? Dick's eyes widened as a different idea came to him. Quickly, he knocked on the mental door in his mind that led to his and M'gann's link. She opened it immediately and he asked, _Can you open a link between you, me, Conner, and Artemis?_ She sent the mental equivalent of a nod and then Dick felt the link expand until it encompassed all of them.

He sent into the mind link, _The Rogues think that Tara's got some sort of listening device set up in here. If they're right, then the device has to send the information straight to Tara and not to the Light otherwise we would have caught it by now. But we hadn't bothered scanning for bugs that transmitted to the household. They want Tara to hear that we think Wally is dead and they want her to hear that Gregor is looking into this, into a way to rescue her._

_Are you serious?_ Artemis asked before she sent a mental frown, _I guess that makes a lot more sense than the nonsense they were spouting earlier. Where do we go from here, then?_

Conner answered immediately, _This is our chance to show that we're trustworthy. The Rogues were giving us an opening to say that we'll protect villains and metas and everyone else equally._

M'gann nodded, adding, _We all figure that Tara thinks of herself as evil for the things that the Light made her did. It's very likely that what we need to make sure that she finally comes to trust us is to show that it doesn't matter what kind of people we see. They're all worthy of being saved_.

Instead of answering back mentally, Artemis spoke out loud, "I know this isn't the most ideal, Dick, but think about it. I mean, regardless of how King Gregor ended up working with the Rogues, he's still working on defeating the Light. That means that we've got something in common. We could use all the help we can get at this point."

"Villains, though?" Conner asked, skepticism lining his voice.

"Whatever it takes," Artemis answered firmly, "The Light has been active for far too long. It's time we finally end them."

Len rolled his eyes, but Dick had known him long enough by that point to see the edges of approval in the lines of his face, "That's all very fascinating and all, but we were really here to tell you about Task Force X. You going to deal with that at some point or are you going to forget about it because villains aren't as important."

Dick hesitated, long enough to be convincing, before answering slowly, "We'll look into it. I can't promise you more than that. But we will give this the same amount of research time as the rest of our issues."

"I supposed that is all I can ask for," Len responded. He stood up fluidly, making Artemis take a cautious step back, hand going to one of her hidden weapons. Len rolled his eyes again. The rest of the Rogues trooped after him, sending disdainful glances back as they went. James was the only one who gave them a friendly wink.

Dick sighed, dropping his face in his hands again. When he spoke next, it was through the mental link again, _When did life get so complicated?_ His friends just laughed a tad bit hysterically.

WWWWWW

Wyynde breathed a sigh of relief when he finally pulled Tachyon onto the shore. They'd been further out than Wyynde had predicted. He spared a moment to wonder how Tachyon had survived under the water for that long, but it really wasn't all that important. He'd probably find out once Kaldur got there.

Tossing his hair over his shoulder, Wyynde made sure that Tachyon was still breathing. Tachyon stirred briefly at Wyynde's ministrations, blinking slowly at him before settling back into a probably necessary sleep. Smiling slightly at the peace that settled over Tachyon's face at the action, Wyynde detached the comms unit from an inside pocket in his suit, pressing it into his ear and switching quickly to the channel that allowed him and Kaldur to talk directly.

He spoke quietly into it, "Aquaman, are you there?"

Kaldur answered quickly, voice warm even over the soft static of the comms device, "_Yes, Wyynde, I am here. What do you need?_"

"I have a man here who fell into the ocean. He cannot remember where he came from and finds himself distressed when he tries to remember anything. He was miles and miles into the ocean when I found him. He had some sort of strange mask and an inhibitor collar when I found him. I removed both because he was not breathing, and I needed to resuscitate him. I do not know what to do with him now," Wyynde explained as succinctly as he could.

He could hear Kaldur's raised eyebrows when the man answered, "_That is very strange. Did he have handcuffs on? Were you able to get any sort of name from him?_"

Wyynde shook his head for a moment, forgetting that Kaldur couldn't see it, "No, he had no handcuffs or restraints other than the collar. He said that his name was _Tachyon_. I have never heard a human name like that before."

"_Tachyon?_" Kaldur repeated incredulously, "_Please describe him_."

Wyynde's eyebrows rose at the note of shock in Kaldur's voice, "He is average height. He has pale skin, freckles on his face, and green eyes. His hair is shorn close to his head and a, ah, caramel color? He is wearing all black."

Kaldur's voice was oddly insistent when he asked, "_Was the mask all black as well? Did it mold to his face to the point that it looked like a black cloth face as covering his own face?_"

Wyynde blinked, "Yes, it did! Do you know this man?"

"_That is the speedster that I told you about! If you have an inhibitor collar on you, please put it on him immediately. He is a criminal who is _very_ good at escaping places. If you do not have an inhibitor collar, do whatever you need to do to keep him there. It is imperative that I speak with him. I have located you. I will be there in ten minutes_," Kaldur spoke rapidly. Under the sound of him speaking, Wyynde could hear Kaldur running through some sort of building, a mechanical voice reading out his zeta tube information.

Wyynde glanced back over at the sleeping man. Was this really the dangerous speedster that Kaldur had warned Wyynde of? What made him so dangerous? And why had Wyynde not heard of this Tachyon before recently? Kaldur sounded like he had a history with the man even though he was a newer villain. What was happening?

A sudden noise from the edge of the beach had Wyynde whipping his head up. He glanced around him but couldn't see anything. He should investigate to make sure that they weren't in danger, but… he couldn't leave Tachyon behind. Wyynde had no inhibitor collar on him. The moment this man woke up, he could be gone in seconds. Speedsters were not to be underestimated.

There was another sound, on the other side of the beach then. What was going on? That certainly sounded like a person. Who was there? Was he being watched? Did this Tachyon person have friends who had somehow found him? Wyynde resisted the urge to curse – he hadn't even checked for a tracker. How stupid could he get?

Gritting his teeth, Wyynde figured that it wasn't worth the effort to berate himself. He needed to focus on the _moment_ instead. He couldn't afford to be distracted.

It was, of course, at that very moment, that something flew out of the air and struck him before he could even _think_ about moving. Wyynde crashed to his knees at the force of the blow, blinking rapidly as he tried to get his weapon out and into his hand. Next to him, Tachyon slept on peacefully. Wyynde swallowed and tried to stand up. Something rushing through his veins stopped him. The drug coursed through his system. Wyynde fell onto his side.

Somehow, whoever this was must have managed to get paralytics that worked on Atlanteans, along with a weapon fast enough and strong enough to pierce their skin long enough to inject the drug. Who would… who would… be… that st-strong…?

As his thoughts washed away with the ebbing tide, Wyynde made out through blurring eyes three figures standing before him and Tachyon. He recognized two of them and felt a sinking dread in his stomach. Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul. No, no, no.

And yet, there was nothing Wyynde could do as the two directed the third member to put inhibitor collars and restraints and both Tachyon and Wyynde. Maybe Kaldur would get there in time to save them. Maybe Wyynde would be able to escape whatever stronghold they brought him to. Maybe… maybe…

Wyynde finally lost the battle for consciousness and fell deeply into sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

KKKKKK

Kaldur tore through the streets of the city, aiming for the secluded beach that Wyynde had found himself on. What were the odds that Wyynde would accidentally happen upon the very person that Batman's entire secret network of people were looking for? Dick had kept Kaldur up to date on the search for Wally and his current description, but Kaldur hadn't been expecting anything to come from it. Why would he? Wally had always been good at disappearing, at running, and the Light certainly weren't going to want the heroes to know that Wally was back, even if they (hopefully) didn't understand his full importance to the hero community.

As far as Kaldur was aware, no one had yet figured out that Dick and Wally were dating or that Wally was Barry's nephew. Well, Dick had said that the truth slipped out in front of Tara, but Dick and M'gann were pretty sure that Tara wasn't telling the Light about that relationship. Kaldur didn't know why they were so sure, but that was the price of splitting up their information like this – they got the information they needed to know, but rarely understood the reasoning and research behind it.

Kaldur frowned when he had to stop at a red light. He'd taken a car with him so he would be able to more easily transport himself, Wyynde, and Wally back to the Watchtower, but having to follow traffic was irritating. Still, by the time he got to Wyynde's location, it would have only been about ten or so minutes.

There was a lot a speedster could do in ten minutes, though…

Kaldur sped up the car the second the light turned green.

He ended up getting to the beach in under ten minutes, panting as he threw the car in park and ran out onto the sand. Where was Wyynde? Kaldur couldn't see him. Had Wally woken him up and taken him? Why would he do that? Wally wasn't the kind of person to just up and take his rescuer somewhere else. Unless he was trying to lose a trace? But surely Wyynde would have told him that Kaldur was coming which would have eliminated the need for that anyways. So, why had Wally done this?

Kaldur frowned, remembering Wyynde's words. He'd mentioned that Wally didn't seem to remember who he was, calling himself Tachyon instead. Their information on where Wally had been and what he'd gone through during his two missing years was incredibly lacking. Was he even the same person he had been when he'd left?

Regardless, that didn't answer Kaldur's question. Where was his boyfriend and Wally? They couldn't have gotten far. Kaldur reached a hand to his ear, speaking calmly, trying to pretend that he wasn't panicking, "Wyynde, where are you? I am at your location, but I do not see you."

There was no response. Kaldur frowned deeper and tried again, his voice louder and more forceful, "_Wyynde_. Please respond. Where are you? I am at your location. Please make yourself visible." He paused before trying one more time, "_Wyynde!_"

Finally, he heard a noise. Head whipping up, Kaldur followed the sound. His heart sunk when he found it. There, lying innocently on the sand, was the remains of two outfits (one being the royal guards' outfit that Kaldur knew that Wyynde would be wearing), Wyynde's comms device, and a few small speckles of blood.

Kaldur couldn't breathe. He physically could not breathe. There was only one thing this could mean. Only one. Someone took Wally and Wyynde. They took the both of them, removing their clothes in order to make sure there would be no trackers, and somehow managed to neutralize both of them. This was bad. This was so, so, so bad. This couldn't be happening. Not to Kaldur. Not to Wyynde. His boyfriend faced danger as part of the king's guard, of course, but not like this. He never just _disappeared without a trace_. Where could he have gone? Who could have taken him?

Burying his face in his hands, Kaldur took several deep breaths to try to get himself under control. He needed to calm down. He needed to be okay. If he wanted to fix this situation, then he needed to be collected and rational. Freaking out was not helping anyone. He needed to call someone. Someone who had a better grasp of the case.

Kaldur was working under the assumption that this attack, this kidnapping was a move against Wally. He had no idea who Wyynde would have upset enough to prompt this. If it was Wally that the people were after, then that left… several options. Kaldur's first thought was the Light, but if that were the case, why would they leave Wally's clothing behind, too. If he had any trackers on him, they would be the Light's trackers. Maybe they thought that Wyynde had tagged him with something. So, they were still a possibility. Who else would be after him? Well, better question: who else even knew that he was _alive_?

He would have to ask the Rogues to get a better understanding of that. Barely any of the heroes were given that information and they were asked to keep it a strict secret if they knew. But perhaps the Rogues had been talking or the criminal underworld figured it out themselves. Either way, if someone there _did_ leak that Wally was alive, then the list of potential suspects dramatically increased. The Rogues didn't necessarily endear themselves to everyone. And, of course, Wally had just killed Simon Stagg and destroyed a STAR Labs. His list of enemies wasn't short.

Kaldur was starting to get panicked again just thinking about it. Shaking his head, Kaldur took a shaky breath before switching to a different channel on his comms and asking, "Nightwing, are you there?"

"_… Yes! Yes, I am. Sorry. I was with the Rogues and they're being – weird. I don't know. It's been a day_," Dick responded, sounding almost as rattled as Kaldur, "_What do you need?_"

"Someone has taken Wyynde," Kaldur started.

Dick quickly interrupted, panic in his voice, "_Are you serious? From where? Did someone attack Atlantis?_"

"No… I… perhaps you should come here, and I could explain better," Kaldur responded, voice faltering as he thought about explaining this. He could barely wrap his head around the fact that Wyynde was missing and he was supposed to explain to Dick that they had been less than ten minutes away from finally having Wally back? Kaldur thought vaguely that he might be going into some kind of shock. He shook his head, trying to knock himself out of it. This was ridiculous. He could figure this out. He and Dick would get Wyynde and Wally back soon. Quickly. It would be fine. Kaldur was getting worked up over nothing.

He wasn't really sure how much time passed between that and Dick's arrival. One moment Kaldur was staring at the blood staining the sand and the next, Dick was standing in front of him, worriedly saying his name.

It still took Kaldur a moment to lift his eyes to meet Dick's. Eventually, he shook his head and straightened his shoulders, "Nightwing. Ten minutes before I arrived here, Wyynde called me and told me that he had rescued someone from the ocean. He claimed that this person was amnesic and could only think of the name Tachyon when pressed." Dick sucked in a shocked breath but didn't say anything else. Kaldur continued, "This Tachyon person fit the description you gave me of Tachyon based on the rough description Wyynde was able to give me. I told him to put an inhibitor collar on Tachyon or handcuff him based on what he had on hand. I immediately started heading for their location. When I arrived, however, this is all that I found."

Dick swallowed harshly, staring at collection of things in front of him. Abruptly, he got down onto his knees, taking something out of his utility belt and picking up the bloody sand with it. He pressed one hand to his ear and said, "Oracle, can you tell me who's blood this is?" There was a pause where, presumably, the testing apparatus that Wally had designed, and Barbara and Barry had completely tested the blood. Dick's lips tightened at whatever Barbara said. He turned to Kaldur with a frown, "It's Wyynde's."

Kaldur wanted to collapse to the ground. He wanted to give up, to let someone else handle this as he fell apart. He didn't want to be the person to deal with this. Someone else could do this this time. He shouldn't have to be the hero in every case. He shouldn't have to be the hero in this situation.

He didn't even know why this was such a big deal to him. He _knew_ that Wyynde was capable and could easily take care of himself. He _knew_ that. And there was barely any blood on the ground. Not even enough to be the slightest bit concerned over. And even if Wyynde was in trouble, Wally was with him. Amnesiac or not, Wally wasn't the kind of person to not help a person in need, especially when that person had just saved them. Well, maybe that wasn't true. Kaldur didn't know what kind of person Wally was now. None of them did. Wally had killed by this point. It seemed as if it were coerced, but could they really be sure? Then again, Wyynde hadn't been acting as if Wally had made any violent moves towards him.

It didn't matter. Kaldur and Dick were going to find them quickly and it wouldn't matter because they'd be rescued and finally back in safe hands and it would be _fine_. (Kaldur tried to convince himself that it didn't feel like a lie).

Dick was poking at the clothes with one of his bo staffs when Kaldur forced himself to focus. Dick's brow was furrowed, and he was mumbling to himself, "This has to be someone skilled, someone practiced. This is definitely not the first time they've kidnapped someone. I'd even venture to say that this isn't the first time they've kidnapped a villain or a hero. They knew to dump the clothes to avoid trackers. I don't know if they checked for under the skin trackers. Maybe they knew that Atlanteans didn't do that. Still, how would they know if Tachyon had it or not? Did they dump that somewhere else to throw off the scent? Would Wally even have a subdermal tracker? The Light surely wouldn't make it that easy to lose him."

"Unless the Light is trying to make it look like someone _other_ than the Light took Wally so we look somewhere else," a new voice added from behind them. Both Kaldur and Dick jumped. Kaldur's eyes widened when he saw Will, Roy, and Jim standing behind them, scowls on their faces. It had been Will who'd spoken, and it was Will who spoke again, "Look, I know I'm not in the superhero business anymore. I _know_ that, okay? But I expect you to keep me updated. At the _very least_, I expect you to update me on the fact that one of my best friends is alive! I mean, _Jesus_, Dick! I've known Wally as long as you have! He was my criminal informant for _years_! He was one of my groomsmen at my _wedding_! And you didn't think that I deserved to be told that he was alive? That the freaking _Light_ had him again? _Seriously_?"

Roy interrupted before Dick could respond, "And how about me and Jim? Do we not deserve to know either? Wally is _family_ to us. Will took him in as a brother and Wally was one of the first ones to accept the three of us as separate people. He was the one to help me through all my issues with being cloned and being forgotten. He was the one who even told you guys that Will was a clone in the first place! He's family! I consider him to be my uncle as much as I consider these two weirdos to be my uncles!"

"Red heads stick together," Jim finished firmly.

Dick was gaping at the three of them, clearly caught off guard. Kaldur stepped forward, determined to try to defuse the situation. Will stopped him, raising a hand to cut him off, "Don't. Just, don't. I am mad at you two. _Beyond_ mad. And we _are_ going to have words about this. There will be yelling. Possibly things being thrown. But for right now, we are going to focus on finding Wally and Wyynde. They're what's important right now. Because of you, we didn't know that Wally was being held by the Light, but we certainly aren't going to let it happen again."

For a moment, all five of them stared at each other, three radiating fury, two radiating guilt. Finally, Dick broke the silence, shoulders slumping, "What were you saying earlier? About the Light and about the – the crime scene?"

"The Light could just be making it seem like someone else took them," Will repeated, glaring at Dick for a moment more before looking at the discarded clothing and weapons.

"Why take Wyynde with them, though?" Roy asked, crouching down next to Wyynde's communicator, "Why not just leave him here? I mean, I get having him as a bargaining chip or whatever, but I feel like that's more trouble than it's worth. The Light would have to know that taking Wyynde would bring all of Atlantis and the Justice League – and probably the Team, too – down on their heads. Would that be worth having a bargaining chip?"

Dick bit his lip before offering, "Maybe it's a method to control Wally. We're fairly certain that they're using Tara Markov – the new teen hero called Terra – to keep Wally in control. Apparently Wyynde mentioned that Wally was acting amnesic when he found him. If that's the case, then threatening Tara might not work anymore and they might have needed to bring Wyynde."

Jim grimaced, "I don't know. Still feels like too much of a risk. I mean, I know Wally's a good supervillain and all that, but is he really worth that much? Especially if they don't know how he's _really_ related to the hero world."

"Who else would take them, then?" Will asked, frowning.

For a moment, they all stood there in silence, staring at the scene as if it would miraculously offer new solutions. Will sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "We can figure this out. What was he doing before he ended up here? Do we know that? Can we figure it out?"

"He was, from what we could tell, attempting to steal something from a Goode World Studios warehouse. He apparently drove a truck into the side of the building and then, according to witnesses, never came back out again. The building exploded. Next we heard about him, Wyynde found him floating in the ocean several miles off California's shore," Dick summarized.

"Who's the source?" Roy demanded.

Dick grimaced, "The Rogues."

"The Rogues are on this? How much do they have?" Roy asked, head whipping up.

Dick shrugged, "I'm not sure. They're mad at me right now and they're worried about a mole within my group, so they're not saying everything they know."

"They're mad at you? I wonder why," Roy commented sarcastically. Jim put a warning hand on Roy's shoulder, causing the younger to tense before blowing out an aggravated breath.

Will sent the both of them a cautious look before asking carefully, "If they're mad at you, then… are you sure that _they_ didn't take them?"

"The Rogues?" Kaldur asked incredulously. He hadn't even considered the possibility. Then again, if it was the Rogues who had seen Wally in that warehouse explosion, then they were the people who were, as far as the heroes knew, closest to this location.

Dick shook his head, "No, it couldn't have been. The Rogues were at M'gann's when Wyynde and Wally were taken."

"M'gann's? What were they doing there?" Jim asked, eyebrows lifting incredulously.

Dick sighed, "I really, really need to catch you guys up."

"Yeah, you do," Will glared, "And once you do, we'll go get Wally and Wyynde back. I'll get Jade, too. She deserves to know about this as much as we do. You _know_ she feels like Wally's her son. Anyways, she might be able to help. She's still got connections in the criminal underworld. Perks of being an antihero instead of a hero, I guess."

"Okay," Dick said, "Okay. You're right. The four of you completely deserve to be filled in."

"Barry does too," Roy cut in.

Dick set his jaw, "Look, there's only so many people I'm willing to bring in on this. More people know about it already than I ever wanted to!"

"Why don't you want people to know? You _don't_ want more people to help? That's all we're trying to do! We're trying to help! You're getting to be just as suspicious as Batman!" Will shouted.

"Enough!" Kaldur shouted. The rest immediately quieted. He knew it was only because they were so unused to him raising his voice. He glared at them, still desperately trying to maintain his cool and not quite succeeding, "Enough. Right now, my _love_ and Dick's _love_ have been _kidnapped_ and are going through _who knows what_. Wally has been _missing_ for _two years_ where _any number of things_ could have happened to him. Wyynde has been_ hurt_. That is _his_ blood on the ground. And yet you are all squabbling like children! I do not have _time_ for you to fight! Either you will _behave_ and _work together_ or I will go off and rescue the two of them by _myself_. Am I clear?"

All four nodded at him, shame-faced and contrite. Good. They really couldn't afford to be fighting amongst themselves. Not ever, but especially not now. Not when Wyynde and Wally needed them.

If they were fighting, then Wyynde and Wally's lives were forfeit. If they worked together, though, then they could _find_ Wyynde and Wally and maybe, just maybe, defeat the Light once and for all.

WWWWWW

Wally woke up without a very clear definition of where he was or, well, who he was. His name… yeah. Nothing much was coming back there? He wasn't entirely certain if his name was Wally or Tachyon. As awesome as Tachyon sounded, it also didn't sound like a real name. Maybe it was a nickname… The rest of his memory also remained stubbornly blank. There was… an explosion, maybe. That might explain his memory loss. But he also remembered a lot of water? Maybe lack of oxygen caused memory loss? He didn't know. He wasn't a medical professional.

There… might have been another person? Wally didn't really remember a face or a name or any really defining characteristics. He only had the memory of a figure rescuing him. From what? The explosion? The water? Both? Neither? Wally was rather confused at the moment.

Groaning, Wally tried to figure out where he was. Since he clearly wasn't going to be remembering _who_ he was anytime soon, he could at least try to figure out the present situation. Maybe the person who rescued him brought him somewhere safe? Maybe, maybe, maybe. All Wally could seem to do was think in maybes. He needed to actually figure out some solid facts.

Swallowing, Wally peeled open his eyes even as he rearranged himself into a sitting position. He winced when his limbs were tugged slightly at the movement. He blinked in confusion at the chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles. So… person who rescued him was a crazy. Or something else happened that Wally didn't remember. Who knows? Wally shook his head at his own ridiculous thoughts, only to freeze when he felt something rubbing against his throat.

He couldn't bring his hands together with his wrists chained up in the air on either side of his head, but he could gently nudge the thing around his throat with his chin. He wasn't super clear on what it was. Maybe… maybe a collar? Did the psycho who had him collar him? What else would it be for?

A soft voice from in front of him had Wally whipping his head up, wincing as he did so. He blinked at the person in front of him. The Atlantean (Wally didn't know how he knew what an Atlantean was, but he could tell from the gills that this man was Atlantean) smiled softly before asking, "Are you alright, Tachyon?"

Wally grimaced, "Tachyon? I thought… for some reason I thought my name was Wally. Tachyon… doesn't sound like a real name."

The Atlantean blinked at him, "Ah, well, it is very possible that your name is Wally. When I asked you what your name was earlier, though, you had told me Tachyon. I will call you either one. Whichever you prefer is fine with me."

"Um, Wally I suppose? I don't – I don't really know what my name is or, well, anything else about me," Wally grimaced again, slumping back against the wall. After a beat, he added, "Could you also tell me your name? I don't actually remember having a conversation with you? At any point?"

The Atlantean frowned but complied, "My name is Wyynde. I found you, nonresponsive and not breathing several miles off the coast of California. I rescued you, but we were captured by Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul, former leader and heiress to the League of Shadows. They put inhibitor collars on us, to lessen my sorcery and halt your speed abilities. Do not worry, though. There are people looking for us."

Wally leaned back slightly, a little overwhelmed, "You just said a lot of words that don't mean anything to me. I don't know who those people are or what that League of whatever is. And… inhibitor collar? Speed abilities? What am I?"

Wyynde opened his mouth, but a different voice beat him to the explanation, "You are a weapon. A powerful one. One that I am not certain has ever quite been in the right hands. But, of late, you most certainly have not been in the right hands." An older man stepped up to the spot between the two cells, smiling benevolently down at Wally.

Wally blinked, something snapping back into place in the back of his mind. He shook his head, ignoring the ensuing headache. After a second, he whispered, "Ra's al Ghul?"

"Oh good," al Ghul smirked, "Your memory is coming back."

"I don't understand what's happening," Wally hissed, hands twitching in their restraints when he tried to grab his head. It was splitting open, pain increasing the more he thought he remembered, the more he tried to force himself to remember. Across the hall, Wyynde was thrashing against his own restraints, seemingly trying to rescue Wally from al Ghul's attention.

Ra's al Ghul simply smiled again at both of their displays. He announced, "Now, I will be leaving the two of you with only one guard, but do not assume that means you can escape. He is highly skilled and will not hesitate to kill you should you attempt escape. I will be back for a longer chat tomorrow." With that, he walked out of the room.

Wally shook his head again, "I am so confused. What is happening? Why do I know him? Why am I _chained up_? What does he mean about me being a weapon?"

Wyynde shook his head, "I am sorry. I do not know much about you myself. I know that you are a speedster and a supervillain, but I do not know more. I had not realized that you had contact with Ra's al Ghul."

"A supervillain?" Wally shrieked, "I'm _evil_?"

Wyynde grimaced, a faint blush staining his cheeks, "I mean, well, that is what I have heard. You might not be as villainous as people have said? Or perhaps this is your chance to start over as a non-villain!"

Wally closed his eyes, trying to will away the pulsing headache, "I just want to go home. I don't even know where home is, but I want to go there." Wyynde made a soft, sympathetic noise.

Quiet footsteps prevented the two of them from saying anymore. Both of them peered through their cells, trying to figure out who it was who would be guarding them. Wally was certainly picturing some massive macho man all decked out with weapons. But that wasn't the kind of person who came up. The person who went to guard the doors was slim and tall and wore very few visible weapons. His entire face was covered. That was boring.

What wasn't boring, however, was the man's reaction to Wally. The man physically flinched, head angled towards Wally was if he were staring. Wally resisted the urge to fold back into his chains in order to hide. The man's mouth dropped open under the mask. After a second of staring, the man under the mask asked incredulously, "Wally?"

And, with another snap of something else settling in place at the back of his mind, Wally's own mouth dropped open, and he asked just as incredulously, "_Jason_?"


	14. Chapter 14

WWWWWW

Wally tugged at his chains again, wishing beyond anything that he could just grip his head and sit in a quiet corner somewhere to pull himself together. What was going on with him? He had barely any memories – half a name, maybe a nickname, an explosion, drowning, recognition of an assassin, and a partially rediscovered memory of a boy named Jason dying. Of course, that partially rediscovered memory was also what was telling him quite firmly that the person in front of him was that same dead Jason, so Wally wasn't entirely certain what to trust.

Were there ways to bring people back from the dead?

"Well," Wyynde said cheerfully after a long moment of Jason and Wally staring at each other in horror, "At least now we can be reasonably sure that your name actually _is_ Wally."

Wally winced and pulled at his chains _again_ as another memory ripped through him. He'd had another name once. John? No, that was stupid. It was highly unlikely he was called John. He was probably remembering some other John. Maybe Momentum? Wally squeezed his eyes shut and Wyynde called out for him in concern. Wally just shook his head in answer before finally saying, "Is that my name? There are… there are names, more than one, on the tip of my tongue. I'm John? Wally? Tachyon? _Momentum_?"

"Momentum?" Wyynde repeated, shocked.

Jason glanced over at Wyynde, "What? What's happening? Who's Momentum?"

Wyynde curled back a little from Jason but still answered, "Momentum is a supervillain speedster who saved the world two years ago."

"You said I was a supervillain speedster, right?" Wally said, "Could I be Momentum?"

"Momentum's hair was red. That was one of his defining features," Wyynde told Wally apologetically.

Wally blinked at him, "Oh… am I not a redhead? What color hair do I have?"

"Brown. Light brown," Jason answered before frowning, "He could have dyed it."

Wyynde winced, "Ah, Momentum is, well, dead actually."

"Dead? What happened to him?" Wally asked, morbidly curious. Something inside of him was telling him that this was important, that this mattered to him. Why would the death of some supervillain matter to him? Then again, Wally himself was apparently a speedster supervillain, so maybe it was some sort of solidarity thing? Who knew?

"You don't know how you died?" Jason asked, eyebrow raising. When did he take the weird mask thing off? Was he allowed to do that?

Wally scowled at him, "Wyynde _just_ told us that it wasn't me because I'm not dead or, apparently, a redhead and therefore cannot be him."

Jason scowled, "And _I_ just said that you could have dyed your hair!"

"That is clearly not the problem!" Wally screeched before pausing and lowering his voice to a normal volume, "That is _clearly_ not the problem. I am not dead and am therefore not Momentum."

Jason narrowed his eyes at him, "The dead can be brought back."

"Um, no. That is scientifically impossible. Like, biologically, chemically, etc. Impossible," Wally answered. He paused and squinted as various chemistry ideas passed through his mind, "Wait, am I a chemistry person? Do I do chemistry? What is the normal level of chemistry understanding? Wait, that doesn't matter. You, Jason. Did you die and come back to life? Because I'm pretty sure you're dead. My admittedly mostly gone memory is telling me that you died." Wyynde was looking increasingly confused from the other side of the hallway.

Jason frowned, "Did I die?"

"You were literally just mocking me for not knowing that same answer," Wally said scathingly.

"I – I'm not… doing the best with my memories right now," Jason scowled.

"Well, I'm an amnesiac right now, so same. Wyynde, do you know who that is? Is he dead?" Wally asked before pausing and restated, "_Was_ he dead? He's clearly not dead now."

Wyynde grimaced when the attention turned to him, "The name Jason sounds familiar. Can you tell me anything more about him?"

"Jason… Todd, maybe?" Wally tried, wincing when his head started aching more.

Wyynde made a soft noise of recognition, "Oh, yes. Jason Todd was a superhero who died years back."

"Wait, so if he died and came back, does that mean that I could have died and come back? Could I be Momentum?" Wally asked.

"Do you know me, too?" Jason asked Wyynde before seeming to realize something and turning to Wally, "Do I know you? How do I know you?"

"I don't know," Wally replied irritably, "I have very few memories right now. I recognized you, but that was it. Maybe we were enemies?"

"Why?" Jason asked, narrowing his eyes and putting a hand on one of his visible weapons.

Wally shrugged, "Wyynde said that you were a superhero, right? And he told me that I was a supervillain. Makes sense that we would be enemies."

"Why would we know each other's names, though?" Jason asked.

Wally blinked for a moment, stumped. That was a good question. Why would a superhero and a supervillain know each other's names? Eventually, Wally just shrugged again, "I really don't know, man. I'm just as confused as you are. Hey, but now that we know each other, why don't you let us out? We can escape together! I can't imagine, as a hero, that you would want to work for a bunch of assassins. I bet if you had your memories, you'd be out of here in no time, yeah?"

Jason frowned again, "No… I suppose not. I –," He cut off and stumbled against the wall, clutching his head, "I don't want to work for them. I don't. But – they said. I… I died. They can stop me from staying dead. But I don't want to go back in there. It made me crazy. I might _still_ be crazy. What's wrong with me?"

"Good, good," Wally said cheerfully, "Love it when the guard is crazy." Wyynde sighed.

While Jason wrestled with his own emotions and memories, Wally glanced over at Wyynde, "So, how did I – or, well, _Momentum_ die?"

Wyynde glanced slightly at Jason worriedly, but eventually answered Wally, "I do not know all of the specifics. I do know that Momentum died saving the world. I know what you are thinking: he was a villain, why would he do that? As to the answer to that question, I am unsure. I do know that he had ties to the hero community, but beyond that I do not know. He stopped a Magnetic Field Disruptor from destroying the earth, sacrificing his own life in the process. I do not know, specifically, what killed him though."

Wally didn't care about all that. All he cared about was the memory that was fighting to surface. He was… running. Running faster than any human had the right to. How was that possible? He ran and ran and ran until he was there, standing with two other people running really, really fast. He joined them. They were running in a circle, trying to disrupt the chrysalis action of the MFD (how did he know that?). It was attacking the weakest link, though. It was attacking _Wally_. He could _feel_ himself dissolving, disintegrating, disappearing. Where was he going? There was an image of a man (Uncle Barry) telling him to hold on. There were desperate last words. And then there was…

A loud slam echoed through the hallway and Wally flinched, instinctually curling back into himself. Jason and Wyynde were looking at him worriedly. He shook his head, trying to shake some sort of fog out of it, "What?"

Jason scowled, "You were nonresponsive. We've been trying to get your attention for almost a half an hour now. I would have gone in and shaken you, but I don't have the keys."

"Oh," Wally whispered, "That's bad, isn't it?"

"That is quite bad. I felt a head wound when I found you in the water and you were in the water for what seemed to be a long time. Both of those could have caused brain damage. I know that your memory is… not well, but do you remember this happening before?" Wyynde asked, leaning forward as far as his chains would allow him.

Wally sighed, "I'm really sorry, Wyynde. I wish I remembered something. I don't know if it's happened before or not."

"That is alright. We will figure this out. Together," Wyynde told him, glancing at Jason to make sure that he understood as well. He tugged on his restraints one more time, glancing at Jason, "Preferably, we will do this 'figuring out' outside of this place. Can you help us escape?"

There was a long pause. Wally tried to give Jason the most pleading expression he could, widening his (what color were they?) eyes as far as they would go. Wyynde was doing the same on the other side of the hallway. Eventually, Jason caved, shoulders slumping as he sighed, "Alright. I'll try. I don't have keys, so I'll have to break you out."

"Okay, cool," Wally started, "Do you have a set of lockpicks on you or someth-." He was cut off by a huge _bang_ as Jason _pulled out a gun_ and proceeded to_ shoot the locks_, including the ones _attached to Wally's limbs_. Wally screeched, "Warn a guy before you pull something dumb like that!"

"I wasn't going to miss," Jason scowled.

"That's not the point!" Wally shrieked. Wyynde sighed as he rubbed his newly freed wrists. He glanced pointedly at Jason, "Did you not think that it might be wise to choose a _quieter _method of freeing us? We should have guards upon us shortly, now."

Jason scowled more fiercely, looking like a chastised kid, "It was _quicker_. Besides, I got you out, didn't I? That's what matters, isn't it?"

"Absolutely not," Wally glared down at him, "There is much more to this! There is a finesse. A _grace_. There are strategic plans and set backups for if you don't have time to plan." He paused, "Huh. I really must be a supervillain. I'm starting to remember escape plans that seem to be pretty angled towards escaping prison."

"Is now_ really_ the time for this?" Wyynde asked exasperatedly, already looking out either side of the connecting hallway. He took off without another word, leading Jason and Wally to shrug at each other before following.

Since it seemed like Wyynde had a pretty good idea of where he was going (or, at least, he was good at faking it), Wally turned to Jason to get more info, "Do you know how many guards are at this place?"

"Not many," Jason answered, "There aren't many _people_ on this island. There's me, Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, her kid, Sensei, and Ubu."

"Ubu?" Wally asked incredulously as they finally made it out of the building, "What kind of name is Ubu?"

"Mine," a man (presumably Ubu) growled before smashing into Wally, sending him flying against the wall of the building he just escaped from. He gasped as the breath was knocked out of him. He sat there, trying to regain his bearings (and his breath), as Wyynde and Jason started attacking Ubu.

He'd only just managed to get to his feet when a new attacker threw himself into the picture, launching a high kick that Wally just barely managed to dodge. With a surprised yelp, Wally threw himself to the side, rolling into a standing position. He barely resisted letting his jaw drop with surprise when his body immediately moved into an offensive stance, ready to attack.

He might not have had any memory of training, but apparently his body muscles remembered better than his brain because Wally didn't actually do too bad against the other man (presumably Sensei, just by process of elimination… unless this was actually a woman and Wally was fighting Talia al Ghul but that would be… yikes. That would be very yikes if this was a woman). Of course, Wally lost. He realized the moment he saw Wyynde tripped, the moment he saw Ubu get a good punch in on Jason. He realized the moment he saw Ra's and Talia al Ghul watching them passively from the sidelines.

It still didn't make crashing to the ground from a well-placed kick to the head any easier. Ow, ow, _ow_. That was unnecessary. Wally groaned pitifully, hoping to get some pity points even if he really didn't expect any.

Once all three of them had been taken down, Ra's al Ghul stepped forward, looking down on them with amusement, "I am glad that your memories are returning, Wally and Jason. I look forward to the day you get them all back. For now, though, I have use of you while you are still almost blank slates. Until the day you three can take down Ubu and Sensei by yourselves, without powers, you will remain here, on this island. I have no particular love for the heroes, although there are some I respect. Despite that, it is the heroes that will unite the Earth against the coming threat. I had once believe Savage's ideas, especially when his threat was proven, but no longer. The heroes have thwarted the Light too many times for me to continue to feel comfortable as a part of it. Instead, I will have to put my faith in the heroes. That is where I will send you three once I am done training you. I believe that each of you will have something important to bring to the heroes to help save the world. Is that understood?"

Wally raised his hand, "We're pretty sure I'm a supervillain. I'm pretty sure the heroes are going to kill me."

"Heroes do not kill," Wyynde muttered petulantly. Wally spared at moment to raise an eyebrow at him.

Ra's al Ghul sighed at their childishness, "They will not kill you. You are important to them in ways I cannot describe currently. Now, I will be taking you to your new chambers – all of you. Your days will be comprised of two types of training: training of the body and training of the mind. During the day, you will be pushed to your limits completing training of the body. During the evenings and nights, you will train your mind, learning to concentrate and meditate and remove distractions."

With that, he nodded to Ubu and Sensei. Together, the two of them manhandled all three men back into the building. Wally slumped once the sight of the outdoors was cut off (he didn't know why, but for some reason he craved the sight of the sky).

Well, at least they had a clear plan of attack. If this Ra's al Ghul guy was telling the truth (and Wally _thought_ he was), then they just had to train up until they left. Hopefully being around Jason would help jog Wally's memories, too. This wasn't shaping up to be too bad.

DDDDDD

Dick nervously stood and made his way to the steps of the porch once everyone had gathered in M'gann and Conner's backyard. It was a large group. A _really_ large group. Dick hadn't wanted to get this many people involved, hadn't wanted to make this so complicated. But things rarely went the way Dick wanted them to.

Clearing his throat, Dick smiled uncomfortably and said, "I know that… a good number of you are irritated with me. I understand that I have been unfairly keeping you out of the loop of things that matter to you and affect you. I swear I wasn't trying to cut anyone off and I _swear_ I wasn't trying to hurt you. In the end, though, I hurt a lot of people by not bringing them into this. I hurt other people by not letting others help me, too. For that, I am sorry." There was silence after he spoke, those gathered watching him solemnly. The younger heroes, the members of the Team and the Outsiders were a little confused, a little flippant. They didn't quite understand what was going on. There were a lot of people they didn't know very well, and they clearly didn't know how to take a hero apologizing to them.

Dick grimaced and continued, "That said, I gathered you here today to bring you into the fold, to make sure that everyone is on the same page. There's a lot of information, though. I ask that you please bear with me." The group nodded, all eyes on Dick. He swallowed nervously before starting to outline what was happening. He started with a brief description of his research into the metahuman trafficking crisis, explaining how that led him to Markovia. He moved from that onto the time he spent with Brion and the others, rescuing them and training them. He spoke about the search for Tara and how they managed to find her. He had to edit a bit of that since Tara was in the audience at that moment. It had been a calculated risk bringing her in like this. On the one hand, Dick was really hoping this was what it took to get Tara to finally let go of the Light and join the heroes fully. On the other hand, not telling everyone about her role as a mole meant that Dick was going to have to go around and talk to the other adult heroes individually to explain the situation. That was annoying but unavoidable.

Dick talked about how the search for Tara led to his discovery that Wally might be alive. He paused for a long moment before admitting his own relationship to Wally, which had been kept enough of a secret that some people in the crowd were still surprised. Barry backed him up by admitting that Wally was his nephew. Ed seemed confused as to how Wally could end up a villain with that kind of connection to the hero world, but Dick had shrugged and refused to explain that. There was no way he was going to air that kind of business to them.

He moved on to explain how the search expanded from just looking for Tara to looking for Tara and Wally. He mentioned how he brought in the Rogues and how he found Tara. Dick gave the whole story all the way up until that moment on the beach where he'd found Kaldur standing in front of a crime scene. He hesitated when he got to that part, heart breaking all over again at how _close_ they'd gotten to getting Wally back.

Kaldur picked up, voice as flat and emotionless as it had been when he was pretending to be a villain years ago, "When I arrived at the beach where Wyynde was supposed to be with Momentum, all I found were their clothes, Wyynde's comms device, and some of Wyynde's blood. They had been taken. We do not yet know by who. It was after this that Dick decided to share his research with the rest of you."

Artemis gasped, a hand to her mouth, "Wyynde was taken? I'm so sorry, Kaldur."

Dick watched his friend give a tight-lipped smile, "It is alright. We will find him. He is strong and resourceful and has Momentum with him. He will be alright." Kaldur sighed when he saw some of the expressions of confusion around him, "Wyynde is my boyfriend." Understanding dawned over quite a few faces at the same time as uncomfortable realization. They realized that there were now two heroes with missing loves due to this whole mess. A few glares shifted onto Dick and he fought the urge to curl into himself.

M'gann seemed to see them too because she floated up to the steps next to Dick, putting one hand on Dick's shoulder and the other on Kaldur's, "I am very grateful to you for catching us up on this. I know that it is hard to shake Batman's paranoid influence."

"Right," Artemis said, jogging to stand next to them, Conner right behind them, "And it doesn't matter that you took a little longer to tell us. It would have been great if you had kept us all in the loop, but I understand why you made the decisions you made. You did a lot of good."

Conner glared out at the crowd, arms crossed over his chest, "Remember that."

Jade rolled her eyes, shoving through the people next to her, "I don't really care what your reasons were. I don't really care what's happened up until now. All I care about is the fact that Momentum's out there right now, scared and alone."

"He has Wyynde," Kaldur reminded, voice tight and measured. Dangerous.

Jade sent him a withering glance, not even phased, "Does he know Wyynde? Your boytoy said that Wally was acting like he had no memories. Even if he gets his memories back, will he know Wyynde? Did they ever meet before Momentum 'died' or will this just be a stranger?" Kaldur bowed his head in defeat, conceding the point. Jade turned back to Dick, "I am going to find Momentum. I'll start looking through my contacts right away. Get me an updated photo on what Wally is supposed to look like now." Dick breathed a sigh of relief when Jade turned her piercing attention onto someone else, "Captain Cold. Where _exactly_ is Icicle Jr.? If you tell me he's still with Onslaught after all of this, I am going to be _furious_."

Len stared at her, clearly emotionless even through his goggles, "Icicle Jr. is still with Onslaught."

Jade growled, "Does he even know his brother is alive? Does he know any of this? Have you even tried to reach out to him? Have you not considered that having someone on the inside – even if he's a little far off – would be _convenient_? Or did you just not care that Icicle Jr. was sucked back into the horrible place that almost cost him his life as a child? For some reason, I had been deluded into believing you actually cared about your children." Several people very carefully shifted to the sides, away from Jade and the Rogues.

Len refused to rise to the bait even as the other Rogues shifted angrily behind him, "Funny. I had been deluded into believing that _you_ actually cared about those two as well. How is it that you're just now taking an interest in any of this?"

There was a moment's pause where Jade was clearly trying to take in what Len said, trying to come to terms with the fact that someone had just spoken to her like that. Then she growled, low and deep in her throat. She started stalking towards Len, a hand going to one of her hidden knives. Dick stepped forward, alarmed at the way Len was standing there passively. He really, really didn't want this to become a bloodbath.

Thankfully, Will got there before Jade could do any damage, stepping in front of her and lightly putting a hand over the one that was going for the weapon. He leaned their foreheads together and said quietly, "Hey, hey. Let's _not_ attack the Rogues, okay? Even if he won't admit it even under pain of death, Cold's just worried, alright? It's his kid that's out there, too, right? Two of them. He's worried and scared and you really, really don't need to kill him, okay?"

There was another pause, the rest of the group silent, as Jade contemplated her husband's words. Eventually, she stood down, hands moving away from her weapons and into an innocent pose. She glared at Len, "You're lucky he's here. You'd be _dead_ otherwise. _Never_ imply that about me again. _Never_."

Len raised an eyebrow, "As long as you promise the same in return."

Jade tensed again. Dick was worried she was going to go back into attack mode, but Will didn't seem concerned, so he let himself relax. It turned out Will was right because Jade eventually calmed down again, offering Len a curt nod, "Deal."

"Alright," Artemis said, clapping her hands together and effectively bringing the attention away from the volatile confrontation that Dick wasn't entirely certain was solved, "Now that we're all caught up, we can get to planning. First and foremost, who's actually interested in being a part of this search?" No one was particularly surprised when every hand rose in the air. Dick even noticed with slight amusement that King Gregor's hand rose on the small phone that Brion was using to include Gregor in the meeting.

"Good," Dick said, taking over from Artemis after sending her a grateful smile, "That's what I was counting on. Kaldur, Will, Roy, Jim, and I came up with a rough plan on who to put on what part of this project. I've got briefings here with me that should help. If you've got any questions, go ahead and ask me or one of the four I just listed, alright? And, guys… thank you. So much. I cannot say how much this means to me. I know that Momentum is important to a lot of you, but I also know that a lot of you don't even _know_ Momentum. Or Wyynde. Doing this much to help Kaldur and I… it means a lot." He nodded to the group and they broke off, clustering around the three clones where they were handing out assignments.

Dick leaned back against the porch rail, gathering his bearings. That had been mentally exhausting. He hadn't wanted to do that. He had been avoiding doing that for so long. Now that he was done, he wasn't sure why. What was so important about keeping this a secret? The people here wanted to help Dick and Wally and Kaldur and Wyynde. Of course they do. Even if they don't know all the people involved, most of the people gathered around were heroes. Heroes help people. He shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it. He shouldn't have been conceited enough to believe he could do it enough. He shouldn't have been that paranoid, that _afraid_ of trusting. He really was turning into Bruce. Dick scrubbed a hand over his face, wishing fiercely and with all his heart that Wally was there with him. Wally would have stopped him from becoming so jaded. He would have stopped Dick from making so many mistakes.

Dick was interrupted from his musings when Artemis and Tara came up to him, the former wearing a confused expression while the latter bit her lip in concern. Dick looked between the two of them before settling for cocking his head in confusion, "What's going on?"

Artemis shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. Tara just said that she wanted to talk to us. Just the two of us to start with although Conner and M'gann can join. Or, wait. I just asked M'gann and she said she's busy answering questions for the rest of the kids." Dick glanced over and, sure enough, her and Conner were being swarmed between the Team and the Outsiders. Yikes.

Dick nodded to the two girls in front of him, "Okay. Let's talk inside, alright?"

They made their way inside. Dick wondered what Tara could want to talk to them about. Maybe she was going to offer up some more information on Wally. Maybe she'd talk about some tracking technology the Light had that they didn't. There were infinite possibilities.

And yet… Dick never expected the one she went with. Tara squared her shoulders, looked them in the eyes, and said, "I am a mole for the Light placed in the Outsiders in order to disrupt your plans and take you out from the inside. I report directly to Slade Wilson, codename Deathstroke."

Dick could only gape at her. Obviously, he knew that, but… he wasn't expecting her to out and say it! Thankfully, Artemis recovered a lot faster, smiling softly and putting a hand on Tara's shoulder, "Oh Tara, we know."

"You… know?" Tara asked, eyes going wide.

Dick finally composed himself, giving her a kind smile, "Yeah, Tara, we know. We've known since the day we rescued you from the depot."

She collapsed onto a chair, putting a hand over her face, "How? I – I thought I was being so careful. Why… why would you have let me in? I've given Slade so much information on you! I've told him everything I've learned!"

"Did you tell him that Wally is my boyfriend?" Dick asked softly. Tara bit her lip and shook her head no. Dick smiled wider, "Well, there you go. You didn't tell them everything. I trust that you kept the important stuff to yourself. Besides, you know us. We're heroes. We save people. And you _desperately_ needed saving. You were in an awful place, Tara."

"And we understand why you would even go undercover with us and report on us. Because that place _was_ awful. We can tell that much. But, Tara, why tell us now?" Artemis asked, crouching down in front of her.

Tara let one single tear slip out before she roughly brushed it away and sniffed. She took one more deep breath before admitting, "Wally. I – when Slade had him, even after you guys did so much to make me realize that I really, really should be with you instead of with the Light, I couldn't stop what I was doing. They were already hurting him so much and I couldn't get them to stop, but I could make sure that they didn't go too far, that they didn't kill him. I know he was under the same restrictions for me." She paused again, breath going a little ragged before she sobbed, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. Oh, sweetie, it's okay. You're okay," Artemis said, grabbing Tara into a hug and rubbing her back comfortingly. Dick's heart broke at the sight. How many people's lives had the Light ruined? Tara's childhood was gone without repair. She'd never fully recover, either. This was emotionally traumatizing. Dick knew that she'd still be happy – they'd make sure of it – but the years she spent with the Light, the trauma she faced lying to everyone she interacted with, the fear of losing Wally for real was always going to affect her. It made Dick furious. How dare they? How _dare_ they? And for what? What did they get out of this? Why did they need to hurt a little girl like this?

Dick's fury faded quickly, leaving him feeling drained. They were supervillains, the bad kind. There was no justification for their behavior, no rational reasoning. It was useless to even ask the question of why.

After a bit, Tara's sobbing went down to sniffling and she was able to say, "I can tell you more, now. I can tell you everything I know. It's… not as much as I'm sure you're hoping. But it's something."

"I'll ask you about the Light after this, but can you tell me a bit about Wally?" Dick asked. Tara nodded and Dick sent her another encouraging smile, "Asterous. First and foremost, how long have they had him?"

"Um, I know I was with him for a couple months? Perhaps three or so? I didn't keep track of the time very well. It… made me sad. Slade had mentioned, though, that he had been in the labs for maybe a little less than a year before I met him, though," Tara answered, ducking her head when Dick blanched. In the labs? Wally had gone back in the labs? No. No way. There was no way. Dick had _promised_ Wally that he'd never end up back in the labs again.

Trying to ignore the sinking horror in his gut, Dick mused, "That doesn't account for the whole time Wally was missing. Did anyone tell you where he was before that?"

Tara shook her head before amending, "Or, wait. I believe someone mentioned finding him in Antarctica before they brought him to the labs."

"Antarctica?" Artemis asked incredulously, "That's where he was when he disappeared! How did he end up in the same place, like, six months later? Had he been there that whole time? That makes no sense. Barry and Bart _saw_ him disappear. Jaime said that he'd _ceased_."

Dick shook his head, "I don't know. I think we're going to have to look into the MFDs again, get a better understanding of how they work and what the tech is behind them. Maybe I'll reassign Blue Beetle to work on that instead. Maybe with Bart or Barry or both. See if we can try to _really_ understand how the Reach tech affects speedsters."

"Good idea," Artemis said before turning back to Tara, "Was he amnesic when he was there with you?"

"No," Tara answered immediately, firmly. Dick wasn't able to let the sense of relief wash over him before Tara added, "But… there was something. He would space out for long periods of time. I mean, seriously long. There was one time I went on a mission and found out that he'd been spaced out for practically a full day. I know that the scientists on base were looking into it, trying to see if they could get them to stop. I don't think they even figured out what caused them, though."

"Space outs?" Dick asked sharply. He winced and softened his voice when Tara flinched back, "Sorry. Can you explain those a little bit more?"

Tara shrugged helplessly, "I am not certain what was happening. There would just be times where he would go unresponsive. He would not move or speak or even be aware of his surroundings or of time passing until someone managed to snap him out of it. It happened probably several times a week."

"That's not good," Artemis muttered. Dick wasn't even really listening. What could be causing those? Was it residual damage from the MFD? What could it have possibly been? Artemis nudged Dick's shoulder and gave him a careful smile, "You can add that to Jaime's workload. If you're doing that, though, I'd definitely have both Bart and Barry on his team. The three of them working together should be able to figure it out. Those two know more about speedsters than anyone else. And you know they've got connections with a lot of other speedsters. They could easily reach out if they're stumped."

"Yeah," Dick said, swallowing hard, "Yeah, of course. Right. I'll do that. One last question." Dick paused, trying to keep his emotions under control, "Was he – was he alright? I mean, overall. Did he seem alright?"

Tara looked at him, eyes still red-rimmed from crying. After a second, she hiccupped out a laugh, "Yes. Yes, he was alright. I mean, he's Wally. I don't think he'll ever stop smiling."

Artemis continued to gently coax information about the Light and Tara's time there from the girl, but Dick zoned out. He'd already started a recording device and Artemis would update him. For now, though, all he could think about was Wally. Wally, who had been put back in the labs twice now. Twice. Wally, who apparently never stopped smiling, who wrapped another person around his finger. Wally, who Dick loved, who he needed, who he wanted to see one more time. Wally who was –

Who was alright.


	15. Chapter 15

BBBBBB

Bruce sighed when the scientist squeaked in surprise. This Rubel character was the one who had _set up_ the meeting and he was still scrambling backwards in fear at Batman's sudden appearance. Kara had been kind enough to turn her head in Bruce's direction in order to give the kid a heads-up in the first place. Rubel was certainly unobservant. It made Bruce wonder what sort of important information he could give the heroes.

Benjamin Rubel started babbling the moment Bruce straightened up in front of him on the rooftop they'd agreed to meet on, "Okay, wow. Cool. Okay. You're – you're _Batman_. That's – amazing. Super cool. Haha, super, get it? Wow, man, I'm such a mess. I swear I'm not this weird normally."

Under her breath, Kara muttered, "You absolutely are." Bruce raised an eyebrow at her.

Rubel continued on without even realizing that she'd spoken, "Really, I'm chill. I am a chill person. That's why I made such a good reporter for the science section. Well, and because I'm a scientist who knows science stuff and can, like, translate. But also because I am chill and can work through nervous scientist babble. Kind of like the stuff I'm doing right now. Wow, this is so weird. I'm having a weird day."

Kara sighed and put him out of his misery, "He had a bit of a shock when he got my attention asking for a meet up and then realized that he knew my civilian ID. He wasn't really prepared for Kara Danvers to be Supergirl. He _did_, however, have a very good reason for wanting this meet up, right, Ben?"

"Right!" Ben said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Right, sorry. I really should have my head on straight. Someone's life depends on this."

Bruce's eyes narrowed. That sounded serious. He narrowed his eyes further and growled, "Talk."

Ben squeaked again, but finally managed to get out, "So, I know this is super bad and I'm – I _know_ I did a bad thing. I'm willing to be arrested for my part in this. I mean, I'd like to _not_ be arrested, but I was stupid, and I deserve what I get. I…," Ben paused. Bruce wanted to growl at him to continue but couldn't quite force himself to do it. Ben didn't look like he needed to be growled at. He looked like he needed assurance.

Unfortunately, that wasn't necessarily Bruce's forte. He sent Kara a glance and she nodded to him before putting a gentle hand on Ben's shoulder, "Hey, Ben, it's okay. We understand. People make stupid mistakes and do dumb things. That's what we're _supposed_ to do at our age. The important thing is that you're trying to make up for it. So, please, just catch us up, okay? We'll listen, no matter what. We're heroes. We can help you. We _will_ help you."

Ben took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before admitting, "I became a scientist for the Light." Kara's mouth dropped open. Bruce barely stopped himself from doing the same. That was not at all what he'd been expecting. Ben continued because they could say anything, shoulders curling in like he thought he was going to be hit, "I know it was stupid. I know it was awful. It's just – no one would hire me. I needed money from somewhere. They offered me the cash; said they'd keep me hired for a year. They'd pay for food, housing, and travel for the whole time. They said that I'd be free to go after the year. It was only a year long thing. They assumed I'd keep silent because, well, I'd get in trouble too and they'll, like, totally kill me for doing this. But, yeah. I worked as a scientist for the Light for a year. The only tech I was allowed to use was their own stuff, but I was able to build my own sketch devices that I uploaded stuff onto and I put those in various places around Morocco when I was allowed off base for, like, fun stuff or whatever. I've got the locations memorized and I figured I could get that info to you guys so you can get the details on what I did. What the Light's doing."

Kara closed her eyes for a moment before engulfing Ben in a hug, "I'm so proud of you for doing that. We're going to keep you safe, I promise. I'm _furious_ that you were stupid enough to get involved with them in the first place, but I'm so proud of you for doing this once you were already with them."

Bruce interrupted before the conversation could go off-track, "You said that someone's life depended on us getting this information. Who?"

"Momentum," Ben answered without a second of doubt.

Next to him, Kara choked on her breath, mouth dropping open again, "Momentum? He's dead!"

"He might not be," Bruce mused, "Nightwing has been following leads on his potential survival for a bit now."

"He's definitely alive. Or, if not, then there's a redheaded supervillain speedster who's pretty sure that he's Momentum," Ben said. He seemed more confident now, more determined, "I – I did some awful things to him. That was the worst part. There was… He was having issues. He kept going unresponsive for long periods of time. It was really, really weird. The Light couldn't risk him doing that during missions, so they got a ton of scientists to work together on him, doing whatever tests they could to figure out what was wrong. He didn't have a clue. The most I could figure out was that whatever happened during his missing chunk of time. I got as much research as I could in the time I was with him. I left while they were still studying him, though, so I'm not sure if they've discovered more about him. I guess, the most important thing is that he's alive. And I know he's a supervillain! But, but he's a _Rogue_ and he's a good guy. I don't want him to be stuck in there anymore."

Bruce felt his breath catch in his throat. Sure, the first months of Dick and Wally's relationship had been _weird_ for everyone, but especially for Bruce. He hadn't quite known how to handle everything that was happening. Selina had kicked some sense into him, of course, but it has still bee an adjustment. Eventually, though, he'd come to love the redheaded brat at his own. Wally was a good fit for Dick. They needed each other in ways that Bruce couldn't really put into words. Then again, the way Dick devolved once Wally 'died' said it well enough. Bruce never wanted to remember that year, the way that Dick developed tunnel-vision, the way he cut off everyone and everything in the search for what all of them believed to be impossible.

When Dick had approached Bruce's secret network with the information that Wally was possibly still alive, Bruce had been _so guilty_. If Wally was alive, that meant that there were two years of his life where only one person had been looking for him. It made Bruce wonder if they would have _found_ Wally if they'd only bothered to help Dick on his search instead of trying to convince him that he was wasting his time.

This was the first time that anyone had told Bruce straight up that they had seen Wally in person, however. And it wasn't all good news. Space outs? That wasn't good. It wasn't anything that Bruce had ever heard about with speedsters. And, of course, they might be able to just file it under 'another speedster mystery' like the Flash family seemed to do so often, but that was only a viable option if they fixed it. Bruce narrowed his eyes as another part of Ben's speech stuck out to him, "What do you mean by 'his missing chunk of time'?"

Ben frowned, "Well, I know that the Light scientists found him, like, six months after Momentum 'died' or whatever and then they had him for a long time and then they gave him to Slade and Slade's pet project and then, eventually, he made his way to the base scientists, which was me and the others. But when anyone asks him about those missing six months, he doesn't have a single clue what happened. He remembered the MFD just fine but then blanks until he's already with the scientists. We don't even know when he started remembering the scientists because he'd definitely been conscious when he was grabbed by them. If you push him about his missing six months enough, then he goes into a space out. That's why I think they're connected. I mean, there are other reasons, too, but you'll have to look at the data I've got for those."

"Where did they find him?" Bruce questioned, trying to lighten his tone so he didn't sound so threatening. Ben still flinched and Kara sent him a glare. Oh well.

"Antarctica. It was _not_ the exact same place as the MFD, but it was around there. We don't know how he got to that other spot or how he could have survived alone in Antarctica. Apparently some Light agents asked around at the research bases in Antarctica to see if he'd gone to any of them at any point, but they said they hadn't seen anyone come in. No one has _any_ clue where he was during that chunk of time," Ben explained, shrugging helplessly.

Bruce fell silent, letting Kara take over in asking where the info drops were. Antarctica. Wally had been in Antarctica. Had he returned there or had he, somehow, been there the whole time. That was impossible, wasn't it? But where else would he have been? Why wouldn't he have gone home? Did some other group have them? Who else could have had him other than the Light? Why would they have dropped him off in Antarctica after they were done with him? And if they didn't drop him off, but he escaped, then, again, why wouldn't he have gone back home? Where had he _been_ for six months? (Bruce ignored the sick pit in his stomach at the thought that Wally had been stuck with the Light for well over a year. He didn't have time for that at the moment).

Kara interrupted Bruce's musings, "What are we going to do with Ben? He's in serious danger at this point. There's no way we can't just let him go. And, well, like it or not, he _did_ commit a crime. He needs to be tried for that at some point." She winced and sent Ben an apologetic look at that. He grimaced but shrugged in acceptance.

Bruce resisted the urge to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. He eventually answered, "We'll put him in the cells at HQ. It's highly unlikely that the Light will be able to reach him there. Since we put the Rogues there, we haven't had any other escapes and no one in those cells has ever been injured."

Kara's brows furrowed, "Did the Rogues escape from HQ?"

Bruce did sigh that time, "Momentum single-handedly broke them out. It was one of the strangest escape plans I have ever been witness to in my life. There are protocols in place, now, to prevent that kind of thing from happening again."

Kara gaped at him. Bruce had been dreading this. Most of the time, when new members were given a tour of the Watchtower, they were given the story of the Great Breakout. Evidently, Kara had missed that speech on her own tour. Bruce refused to elaborate, choosing instead to turn back to Ben, "Are you a metahuman?"

"No," Ben said, giving a wry smile, "Completely normal other than whatever stupid gene convinced me that working for a supervillain group was a good idea." Kara smiled lightly at Ben, apologetically putting him in normal handcuffs.

Kara nodded to Batman, "Alright, I'll bring him in. Do you want me to get the info caches or will you arrange pickup?"

"I'll arrange pickup. Get him settled. Is there anyone we need to notify?" Bruce asked. Ben shook his head, so Bruce nodded for Kara to take him away. Once the two had flown off, Bruce allowed himself to slump just a little. This whole situation was turning into one big mess. They would have to be careful to ensure that no one knew about Ben's location or even his betrayal. Then again, the Light was probably watching him pretty carefully. Bruce wouldn't be surprised if they noticed him talking to Kara in the first place. Hopefully she flew them somewhere fast enough that the Light agents wouldn't be able to follow. Either way, Bruce was going to treat the info about the information sticks as compromised which means he needed to act right at that moment.

Bruce started sending information out to various heroes who could get places quickly. Each speedster got more than one on the list. This situation was a mess, yes, but there were good parts. All this information? That was good news. Very, very good news. Hopefully the actual information was as helpful as Ben made it out to be.

TTTTTT

Tara felt Dick put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hey, I'm really proud of you for doing this, alright? And we're going to be here for you no matter what. I think, eventually, the others are going to accept you. It might be rough at first, but you're their friend."

Tara swallowed, taking in a shuddering breath, "Right, of course." Sure. No problem. Her friends and _brothers_ weren't going to have any issue with the fact that Tara was a double agent, reporting on them to the Light. Right. No one would mind at all. They'd all totally forgive her.

Probably sensing her continued distress, Dick crouched down in front of Tara, giving her a small smile, "Tara, this is _far_ from the first time that the Team has had issues with moles, alright? Sometimes it's been us placing moles. Sometimes there have been moles within us. But it's a part of our history at this point. Let me tell you a story, okay?" Tara nodded and Dick smiled again, "In the first year of our Team being operational, we knew there was a mole. It was something that we had a hard time accepting and sometimes we did pretend that it wasn't real, but it was. We had a mole. Someone was reporting on the actions of the Team. Now, during this same time, Wally was joining the Light for the first time. He was actually a mole of his own."

Tara gaped at him, "Wally was a mole? Who was he working for?"

"Ah, that's where the mystery deepens," Dick winked ridiculously. It still made Tara giggle. Dick smiled again, continuing, "Wally was, at the time, a criminal informant for Red Arrow. So, he told Red Arrow, who told the League, that he was going to be a mole for them within the Light. In reality, though, he was actually giving the League false information because he was working _with_ the Light. Of course, there's more to that story, but I can't tell you without giving you spoilers. Now, to try to get Wally _out_ of the Light, Flash put the, at the time recently reformed criminal, Plastic Man undercover with the Light. Plastic Man reported to Flash. Then I, without knowing about all of that, put the _Rogues_ undercover with the Light in order to get more information. Things get _really_ complicated after this."

"This is completely ridiculous," Tara informed him, secretly invested in the story.

Dick laughed, "I know, I know. It gets worse! So, the Rogues overheard Plastic Man talking to Flash and thought that _Flash_ was the mole reporting on the League. They told me and I told Batman and Batman told the League and _that_ was a mess because, for a hot second, they really believed that Flash was the mole. They gave him a chance to explain himself and, luckily, that lasted long enough for me to go back and explain I got it wrong. Then he was able to explain who Plastic Man was. Well, fast forward a little bit and the Team had managed to capture Wally and extract Plastic Man. We tried to convince Wally to be a hero instead of working with the villains. It _clearly_ didn't work, but we certainly gave it our best shot. At the end, right when he was escaping, though, Wally said that he was going to reveal the mole. That was his ploy to distract us so he could escape – with the mole's help. Instead of saying a name, he just said 'Broken Arrow.' We were all super confused but then we noticed Will – Red Arrow at the time – was frozen. Like, completely frozen."

Tara interrupted him, eyes wide, "_Will_ was the mole?"

Dick's smile turned a little wry, a little nostalgic, "Yeah. Kinda. Like, I said, this is where it gets complicated. See, at the time, we all knew Will as Roy Harper. When Wally said that phrase, it shut Will down because it was a trigger phrase. Years ago, the Light had taken the original Roy Harper – the one you actually know as Roy Harper – and cloned him. Twice that we know of. One is the one you know now as Jim. One of them is the one Wally knew as Roy Harper, though. That one was the one that Wally was the criminal informant for. When he joined the Light and they revealed that 'Roy Harper' was a clone that was firmly on their side, Wally thought that meant that he was really loyal to the Light, which is why he was giving false information to the League. Eventually, though, Will was cleared of his programming and we were able to move forward."

Tara smiled. What a sweet ending to that story. She'd never known that about Will and she'd been living with him for a while by that point. How must that have felt? To know that you had been unwillingly and unknowingly reporting on your friends? And even with the Rogues and Flash. Tara had seen how close they were and Wally had told her about how important the Flash was to his villains (although he had neglected to mention that the Flash was his _uncle_). Due to way too many moles at the same time, the Rogues had falsely accused Flash of being a mole.

Putting a hand on each shoulder, Dick made sure that Tara was looking at him before continuing, "Let me tell you another story. This one's let confusing, I promise. Later on, Artemis, Wally, Kaldur, and I all put together a plan that involved Kaldur going undercover with the Light. Specifically, with his father, a high-ranking player with the Light. We made it so convincing that only the four of us knew that Kaldur wasn't actually evil. At a certain point, that wasn't enough. So, we faked Artemis's death and gave her an amulet that would change her appearance. With that, she went undercover alongside Kaldur. When M'gann ended up finding and attacking the ship Kaldur and Artemis were on, however, she didn't know about all of this. She had no idea that the two were moles. So, she attacked Kaldur, unleashing a mental attack that really, really hurt him. Artemis was eventually able to tell her what was going on. M'gann was horrified at what she'd done."

"That one's sad," Tara told him, shoulders drooping.

Dick huffed out a laugh, "Yeah, I suppose it is a little bit. But here's the point to both of those stories: moles have an interesting history in the Team. That means that we have a more open mind about them. The original Team and those who joined quickly during the aftermath, before Will was able to find Roy or Jim, know that moles don't always have complete control. And, yes, I know that Will was physically built to be a mole, but… Tara, you kind of were, too. They had you for _three years_. From what you told us, they utilized a lot of brainwashing techniques on you. You weren't in complete control. And that's okay. Like I said, those of us who were there during that whole mess, we understand completely. We've lived through that. Any of us will be here to reassure you and support you because we _understand_. And if you really, really want someone who understands, talk to Will about it. I guarantee that he'd open up with you to help you through this. As to the second situation, you can talk to anyone who was on the Team when the whole Kaldur and Artemis situation happened. They understand what can happen when you just assume that someone's evil, when you just assume that people have no redeeming qualities."

Tara interrupted him, so, so, so very grateful for the things that Dick was saying, but also a little bit not ready to hear them, "When M'gann found Kaldur and thought he was bad, she really, really hurt him, you said. That's not a good thing. What if they hurt me?"

"I will _never_ let them hurt you," Dick promised, voice so intense that Tara couldn't bring herself to do anything but believe him. After a second he continued, grimacing, "Besides, that situation was a little more complicated than the short version I gave you. M'gann was… struggling with figuring out the amount of force to use on people at the time. Also, when I say we faked Artemis's death, I didn't say _how_. We were slightly worried that people were going to get suspicious of Kaldur, so, to fake Artemis's death, we made it look like Kaldur had killed her."

Tara's jaw dropped, "Truly? You went that far?"

Dick sighed, "Yeah. That was a complicated situation. But, you can see why M'gann might have overreacted there. But that's not going to happen. You haven't killed any of us. They haven't even noticed that there's a mole, yet. This situation isn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been."

"I hurt Wally, though, by waiting so long to tell you this," Tara admitted, hating herself for the tears that pushed at the corners of her eyes.

Dick's face softened, "Tara, that's not your fault at all. The fact that you were able to push through three years of trauma to tell us _at any point_ is already incredible. I'm really, really proud of you, alright? Besides, the people out there? The ones that don't already know? They don't know Wally. He's some random person who some of them maybe heard about during his villain days. That's it. If anyone was going to get really upset about this, it would be me or the other original members who are really good friends with him. And I am in no way upset with you. I don't want to be upset with you. I know Wally would kill me if I was upset with you either way." That drew a watery laugh out of Tara. Dick pulled her in for a hug, "Please don't beat yourself up over whatever happens to Wally. He would _hate_ that. He's going to have enough of a time yelling at the _rest_ of us for beating ourselves up. Don't add to his workload, alright?"

That drew another, longer, less watery laugh out of Tara. After a moment, she really threw herself into the hug, gripping Dick's shirt tightly and burying her face into the crook between his shoulder and his neck. Dick hooked his chin over the top of her head and pulled her in even closer, murmuring soft words of comfort.

Eventually, Tara pulled back. She was certain she looked like a mess. At the very least, she looked absolutely nothing like the princess she used to be. Tara closed her eyes as she thought of Wally. He would have hated her talking about herself like that. Knowing him, he would have started calling her princess all the time, half to mock her and half to remind her that some people still thought of her as a princess. Brion and Gregor still thought of her as a princess. She didn't know if they still would after this, but… for the moment. She could be the princess instead of the assassin. That was the point of this after all, wasn't it? Wasn't the point to let go of this horrible past, to give herself over to the heroes and become something else?

Maybe she wouldn't be able to go completely back to being a princess. Or maybe she would still be a princess, but she'd be more. Without a doubt, she was going to be a hero after all of this. Wally would despair over her joining the heroes, but only partially seriously. At least, Tara thought so. She was realizing that there was a lot about Wally and his past that he hadn't been able to tell her without giving the Light information on his friends and family. Still, she felt like she knew him. No matter what else she learned about him, no matter how long it took for her to find him again, Wally was her brother. She had made the claim and she wasn't going to take it back so easily.

With that thought in her mind, Tara sniffed one more time before stepping back, throwing her hair out of her eyes, and walking forward with her head held high. She wasn't just doing this for herself. She was doing this for Wally. She was doing this for her family. She was doing this to save the world because she was a hero.

Brion was the first to notice her. He shot to his feet immediately, rushing over to her and cradling her hands in his, "Are you alright, Tara? You look as if you have been crying."

"I am alright, brother. It was a good kind of crying, I think," Tara responded, pulling one hand back to cradle his cheek before pulling him in for a hug. Brion melted into the hold, pulling her in for a second.

Eventually, his instinctual impatience took over and he pulled back, still holding her in his arms, "Tara, what is this about? Artemis said that we needed to all gather together. She said that you wished to tell us something important."

"Yes," Tara said, "It is important. I will tell you in a moment. Is Gregor here?"

A tinny voice came from someone's laptop as Gregor waved and called, "_I am here_."

"Good," Tara said even though it felt like anything but. Dick's words had given her courage and hope and strength beyond what she could have imagined going into a situation like this. That didn't mean she was completely confident, though. This was… one of the most terrifying things she had ever done. And considering that she had once been an assassin for the biggest, worst evil group out there, that was saying something.

Taking a deep breath, Tara opened her mouth. All she had to do was get it out there, quick and simple. Everything else would happen after that. If she could just get the words out, it would be alright. The worst would be over. She just – had to do it.

That was all.

A few words.

Why couldn't she do it?

Like an angel from above, Artemis curled an arm around Tara's shoulders and tugged her in, whispering into her ear, "Remember, you are _loved_." She didn't say anything else, but she didn't need to. That was all Tara had needed.

Steeling herself for the final time, Tara raised her head, stare intense, mind focused, "I have spent the last three years as a slave to the Light. I was directly owned by the villain Slade, codename Deathstroke. Over that time, they made me do many horrible things. Over time, it became easier to just – give in, to do whatever they asked whenever they asked. It was the safest option. Then… I… I met someone. His name is Wally West and he saved me. He worked with me and trained with me and lived with me and he… he showed me what strength really was. No matter what they did to him, no matter how much they threatened and hurt and manipulated him, he was _so strong_. He is strong and smart and brave and I consider him a brother as much as I consider you, Gregor, and you, Brion, to be my brothers. So… when the Light… when they sent me here as an undercover agent to give information to the Light, I did what I had to do to protect my brother, at least one of them. I tried to maintain a balance between all three of you, between him and my new friends, between everyone but I was – _drowning_. When he managed to get away from the Light, I figured I would listen to his advice one more time. He told me to trust the heroes. He told me to trust all of _you_. And I did. It turns out I was right." That… wasn't what she'd meant to say. It was a lot more than she'd planned. Her big reveal ended up being a lot smaller than she'd intended. At least, it felt like that to her.

Well, it still felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off her chest. She felt free and unencumbered in a way that she hadn't managed yet. This was… this was true freedom. The Light hadn't been defeated yet, but all of her shackles were gone. Tara was _free_.

She finally lifted her head and looked around the room. Artemis, Conner, and M'gann were giving her proud smiles. Dick's eyes were filled with tears, which made Tara's heart lurch for a moment before she remembered that _of course_ all her words about Wally were going to make him tear up. She gave him a small, relieved smile before moving her gaze to where the real problems would lie.

Most of them were gaping at her. It looked as if it hadn't really sunk in. Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, it was Bart who spoke first, squeaking, "You're a mole?"

Tara winced at the tense, correcting quietly, "I _was_ a mole, yes."

"How… how _could_ you?" Brion gasped. Gregor was silent on the screen beside him, one hand resting on his chest, eyes staring at nothing.

Tara closed her eyes, gathering back that strength that Dick's words had brought her. For the first time, she admitted – to others, to _herself_ -, "I have been tortured, Brion. I told you. I know it was – was _weak_ to give in like that, but… I am a child. I have the right to be weak. I have to right to give in when I am scared. I _should_ have kept my head above water. I know that. I am a princess. I should have been stronger. But I was not. I was scared and alone and, at a certain point, I had to accept that no one was going to come to save. And maybe that ended up being wrong. But for _three years_, no one _did _come save me. I did awful things, I know that. But awful things were done to me. I am _sorry_ for what I did. I am so, so, _so_ sorry and I will _never_ stop trying to make up for what I have done. That doesn't change what I did. It doesn't change the fact that I felt like it was my only option. You all risked so much for me and I betrayed that, and I didn't trust you even when you extended such trust to me and I am _sorry_."

There was silence for a long moment. Tara felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest as her brothers just stared at her, confused and _hurt_ in a way she could never truly fix. She _hated_ this.

Surprisingly, it was Beast Boy who spoke next. Tara honestly didn't have much interaction with him. Tara was better friends with his girlfriend, honestly. Then again, Tara had known Perdita since they were little kids. It had surprised her how easily they had fallen back into a friendship, but it had been a welcome surprise. Garfield made sure that he was looking Tara right in the eyes when he said, voice slow and serious, "Tara, thank you _so much_ for telling us that. I cannot imagine how hard that must have been. I – I'm _hurt_, I'll admit, but… you were hurt, too. I can't trust you at the moment, but I really, really want to work on rebuilding that trust."

Tara felt her words clog in her throat as Artemis's arm tightened around her shoulders, giving her silent support. Tara finally choked out, "Yes. Of course. Thank you, Garfield. Thank you." He gave her a quiet smile, sadness lingering in the corners of his eyes.

Victor coughed out a nervous laugh, "Are – are we for real? This chick has been selling us out to the Light for, what, _months_? And we're just chill with that? You big shot heroes are clearly okay with that. How long have you known about this? What happened to that whole 'no secrets' thing yesterday?"

Jaime tried to sooth Victor, "That's what they're doing now, man. They're telling us so there won't be any secrets."

Bart, however, was looking at Dick, "You really think so, Jaime? With these guys? No offense Dick, but you're always lying. I remember when you _faked the death_ of someone really important to all of us just to get what you wanted. You didn't even tell her _mother_ you were so desperate to keep the secret. How long have you known that she was a traitor?"

"Since the night we rescued her from the depot," Dick answered, quick and matter of fact. Tara saw more jaws drop around the room. She bit her lip. She hadn't wanted Dick to get in trouble over this. That was the _last_ thing she wanted. This was all her fault. No one else should be suffering for this!

Bart closed his eyes, passing a hand over his face.

Virgil muttered a low, "Not cool, dude."

Violet was glancing desperately between the still silent Gregor and Tara.

Victor was rubbing his jaw, shaking his head at the older heroes.

Ed was muttering under his breath, eyes closed like he was praying.

It was Forager who spoke next, clearly confused, "Did Dick Grayson not apologize for the lies yesterday? Dick Grayson is making good on the promises Dick Grayson made. Tara Markov is being truthful, as well. We should rejoice now that the hive is filled with truth!"

"It is not like that," Brion finally spoke, voice low and harsh, "I can understand, _reluctantly_, why Dick did not tell us of this earlier. I cannot understand, however, how _Tara _did not tell us of this earlier. Did you think Gregor and I would shun you? You are our _sister_, Tara. Why did you not trust us?"

Tara bit her lip, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to protect Wally. They would have _killed_ him if I hadn't complied."

"And what has this Wally really done for you? He is a supervillain, remember? He might have ties to the heroes, but he is still a villain. Has he done anything to earn this loyalty in response?" Gregor asked, wincing once he finished, tacking on, "I am not saying this to lash out or harm anyone. I merely wish to understand. This is… I am afraid to say this, but the Rogues suspected that you were a mole. I had prepared myself for this eventuality. I simply wish to understand Wally's role in this."

"The Rogues knew that Tara is – _was_, sorry – a mole?" Jaime asked incredulously, "Is there anything that they _didn't_ know?"

"Never underestimate their determination when one of their kids are in danger," Artemis muttered, sounding like she was reliving something unpleasant. Tara glanced up at her curiously.

Then it clicked back in her mind that she had been asked a question. She would be reeling over the knowledge that Gregor had prepared himself for the idea that she was a mole for a long time, but this was not the moment to process that. She could do that later. She took a breath and answered, "He did everything he could to protect me. He kept me happy and he attracted Slade's negative attention. When the Light threatened to kill me if Wally would not kill someone else, he broke his own moral code to save me. He took the blame when the mission against STAR Labs failed. He trusted me with as much as he could with the information necessary. He complied with the awful things happening to him because he was told that I would be killed if he did not."

Victor grimaced slightly, "I really hate to say it like this, but did he really believe that? I mean, you can't convince me that he was considered a higher priority than you. What is he offering them that you aren't? I mean, you were undercover with the heroes. What's he got to top that?"

Thankfully, it was Conner who answered that one, "This might seem far-fetched to those of you who weren't here in the first year of the Team's existence, but Wally's a lot more important to the Light than they let on. Well, maybe that's not the right wording. Lex Luthor, a leading member of the Light has an… obsessive attachment to Wally. We don't know why. We know he's been inordinately obsessed with Wally since Wally was, like, eleven. I fully believe that Luthor would have let Tara be killed to keep Wally in line."

"Did you say… since he was _eleven_?" Ed asked incredulously.

Conner winced. It was Dick who eventually answered, voice heavy, "I hadn't really wanted to get into this, but yeah. When Wally was eleven, his father sold him into Luthor's metahuman experimentation program. Wally was there for two years before he managed to escape. When he was fifteen, he managed to get manipulated back into Luthor's grasp before eventually having to give himself back up to Luthor's experiments in order to save himself and someone else."

Ed muttered, "I'm starting to see how he could have become a villain."

"If you can see that," Artemis started, "Then surely you can see how Tara might have been afraid to disobey the people who _owned her_ for three years."

Ed flinched and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, of course. I didn't… sorry. Sorry, Tara. I had a bad reaction to that. You just really took me by surprise there. And, like Gar said, it's going to take me a bit to _mentally_ get past this, but… I don't know. I still consider you to be a dear friend and a teammate. I mean, man, I work with my dad at the metahuman youth center. We're always getting people who used to be criminals or who were taken by bad people and made to do bad things. I get it. I really, really do. I'm glad you decided to trust us."

With Ed's words, with the words that Dick and the others had said, others around the room began to give their support, giving messages similar to the ones that Forager, Garfield, and Ed had given. Tara's heart warmed just a little bit more with each one. This was more than she had ever expected.

Even Gregor gave her a warm smile and said, "Like I mentioned, I had prepared myself for this. I do not blame you at all, Tara. I am grateful that you trusted us. I will do everything in my power to ensure that you continue to trust us in the same way."

Eventually, it was down to two people. Violet and Brion remained silent. Violet was watching Brion like she was expecting him to give judgement before she reacted. Brion himself was staring at the ground, hands clenched into fists next to him. Finally, Violet gave up on waiting. She very gently floated herself over to where Tara was still standing in Artemis's hold.

Just as gently, Violet reached out and squeezed Tara's hands, a smile slowly moving onto her face, "Tara, when I was rescued by these people, it was a chance to become a new person. I am myself now. I am not Motherbox and I am not Gabrielle. I am Violet Harper and I am Halo. These wonderful people allowed me to be reborn. I trusted them because I had no real experiences in my mind to allow me to _not_ trust them. So, my rebirth was instant. You had to fight for your rebirth and, for that, I am sorry. But you fought so hard and so beautifully and now, Tara, you are reborn. We are your family. We will protect you and stand by your side as you discover who you are in this new life."

That was what finally caused the dam to break. Tara threw herself into Halo's arms, weeping there as she tried to pull herself back together again. Violet hugged her back, pulling the two of them to the ground. For a long moment, they just sat there, hugging and crying.

A hand gently placed on top of her head finally caused Tara to look up. Brion was standing above her. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either. He spoke slowly and carefully, looking to Conner for reassurance just once before looking back to Tara, "I am not… pleased with this. It hurt me more than anything has hurt me before. You will need to work hard to regain trust from me. You will need to do a lot to make up for the hurt you have caused. But… I am starting to see now… that applies to me as well. I left you, essentially alone, in London all those years ago. It was my negligence, my childish whims, that allowed all of this to happen in the first place. For that, I will be endlessly sorry. So, together, I hope we can heal the wounds we have caused each other."

Tara, still crying, still _healing_, still halfway delirious with love for this makeshift family, jumped out of Violet's hold and straight into Brion's, burying her face in his shirt and _weeping_ with every bit of her strength. Brion wrapped his arms around her as well, holding her tighter than she had ever been held in her life.

It was easily the best moment of her life.


	16. Chapter 16

DDDDDD

Dick felt… somewhat uncomfortable coming onto the Watchtower. It wasn't like he wasn't welcome. Of course he was. He'd been there plenty of times in the past. It wasn't anything new. It was just that he wasn't really, truthfully affiliated with any one group. Sure, he helped out anyone who needed help and there had been times that he'd called in for help on a case or he'd joined up with another hero who accidentally stumbled into the same problem he was working on. He wasn't Justice League, though. He wasn't the Team. He wasn't even the Outsiders for all that they worked outside of the Justice League's purview anyways.

So, yeah, it always felt a little bit like he was intruding when he came into the Watchtower.

(This was, of course, not mentioning that his first memory of the Watchtower was when he was fighting Batman and the other mind-controlled Leaguers. He didn't like fighting Bruce. Not seriously. Not for any reason. It felt too much like betrayal when Bruce fought to kill him. It had taken too long to stop flinching around the League members for any of the original Team to really get comfortable in the Watchtower.)

He ignored the looks he was getting from some of the newer members (not that there were that many after the Batman-inspired mass exodus). Just because he didn't come around a lot didn't mean he wasn't welcome. Then again, some of them had probably heard the story of Wally's Great Rescue and were understandably weary of someone they don't recognize walking around. Whatever. He could prove he was an actual hero if he needed to.

Which, well, he _would_ need to. Batman wanted him to go to the cells first. He said that there was someone he wanted Dick to meet. That was… strange, in itself. The League didn't really keep prisoners. More often than not, they sent supervillains straight to Belle Reve. If prisoners were kept on the Watchtower, it was often for their own safety. Who could have been caught who was in danger? Dick hadn't heard anything. Well, maybe the League was worried about Task Force X. Dick certainly couldn't condone putting prisoners into that kind of situation. They might have committed crimes, but they were still people. Planting bombs into their necks and forcing them to go on suicide missions? That was inhuman. It wouldn't surprise Dick if the League decided to start storing prisoners elsewhere while they investigated.

Then again, why would Batman be involved in that? As far as he knew, Batman had never officially taken on that case. It was Dick and the League who had picked up that one. So, if it wasn't a prisoner being kept out of Belle Reve, then who was it?

Guess he was just going to have to find out. Stepping through the last round of security checks, Dick walked into the jail wing. Up ahead, he could see Batman, standing imperiously in front of a cell. Next to him, Supergirl was smiling into the room, rolling her eyes at something the occupant said.

That was… an odd team up. Sure, Batman and Superman teamed up all the time, but despite their close friendship, that was almost entirely because Metropolis and Gotham were so close to each other. It was inevitable that their cases mingled occasionally. But Batman and Supergirl? She lived all the way in National City, down in California. She wasn't nearly close enough for Batman to consider a regular working partnership. Cases that included both of them were odd, too.

Whoever this prisoner was, they were bound to be interesting.

…Or not. When Dick stepped up to the door to the cell, all he saw was an unassuming person around his age. The person was making journalism jokes that had Kara snorting with laughter. This was… weird. Very weird. What was so interesting about this person?

Kara had clearly noticed him first, but it was Batman who acknowledged him first, diving immediately into the introduction, "This is Benjamin Rubel, a former scientist for the Light."

Dick couldn't help the way his back straightened and his eyes hardened. These were the people who had been experimenting on his boyfriend since he was a little kid. These were the people who were responsible for Wally _still_ being missing. His voice was cold as Len's cold gun when he asked, "Is he, now?" Rubel gulped.

Kara glared at Dick, standing forward almost as if to protect the scientist, "Yes, and he's very sorry. What Batman neglected to immediately tell you is that Ben got a ton of information smuggled out of the Light. That's why he's here instead of a regular prison. If they realize he's snitched, then he's in a world of trouble. He's got a lot of info, though. We thought we'd bring you in for the stuff that's related to Momentum, since you're leading the charge on his case."

Dick felt his hard edges soften. He knew better than to instantly judge criminals like that. Wally had been the one to teach him that and here he was doing it again. Not that anyone could really blame him. After seven years of chasing them, mentions of the Light were bound to set Dick off. Still, Dick allowed his voice to soften when he spoke next, "What kind of information?"

"Not a location, unfortunately," Ben grimaced, "I know where _in_ the building Wal – er, Momentum is being held, but I only know the whereabouts and the country where he is."

"Was," Dick corrected, trying to make sure they were on the same page, "He escaped, but was taken by someone else."

Ben gaped at him, "Seriously? I can't tell if I'm impressed or disappointed. I mean, seriously. First of all, he knew I was going to tell someone. I hinted _very_ strongly at him in a quiet whisper. He should have waited. Then again, whoever took him now might be better. Hopefully. That's what we're going with."

Against his better judgement, Dick felt himself softening even further. He couldn't help it; he liked this guy. He sighed and asked, "Where's the information?"

"I have it. I'll let you look it over afterwards. I had assumed you would like a chance to ask a few questions before you look over the research. Supergirl can bring you back if you have more questions after reading the information," Batman answered gruffly.

Dick grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, "Okay. I'll really have to look through the research to get a good understanding of what you do and don't know. Did you know he's having space-outs?"

"Yes," Ben said, "That's why I had interaction with him as a scientist. They, uh, wanted us to figure out what was going on with that and fix it. We hadn't figured that out by the time I left."

"Okay," Dick said, scowling a little bit. Well, maybe this wasn't so bad. If Ben got research out, then there was a chance that he got some of the stuff they discovered about Wally and his issue. Any little thing would be good to give to Jaime, Bart, and Barry to help them with their own research problem. Dick rubbed at his jaw, "Okay. Do you know how much of his past he remembered when you knew him?"

Batman's eyebrows rose under his cowl, but Dick gestured to him to say that he would explain later. Ben frowned, "The only thing he didn't seem to remember was the missing six months or so. He had no recollection of those and went into a space-out if they were brought up, why?"

Dick frowned, "Briefly before he went missing, another superhero managed to find him. That superhero said that Momentum was amnesic. Said it was bad enough that he couldn't even really remember his own name. We believe that there was some head trauma and oxygen deprivation caused from an exploding warehouse and a long time sinking in the ocean, but we weren't sure if the spotty memory could have come from something the scientists did."

"No way," Ben said, frowning deep enough that Dick wanted to sigh. Here was another protector Wally had unintentionally picked up. How he managed to do that was beyond Dick. Ben rubbed his forehead, "I mean, I don't know how long after I left he went missing, though, so they could have done something in the time I was gone. I don't know. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"It's alright," Dick soothed, even though a strong part of him was screaming. Didn't _someone_ have some information? What were these blackouts? Why did Wally lose his memories? Where had he been for those six months? It irked him that he'd been working on this so long and _no one knew the answers_.

Bruce spoke up next, "Do you have any more questions, Nightwing?"

"Not for right now," Dick answered distractedly.

Bruce nodded sharply, "Then come with me. I'll get you all the information. Ben will be here for when you next need to speak with him. Talk to Supergirl to set up an appointment." Dick nodded to him before waving to Ben and Kara. They waved back before striking up another conversation. Did they know each other? Did Ben somehow know Kara's civvie ID? Dick hated that he was so out of the loop. Maybe that kind of thing flew when he was younger, but not anymore. He was his own hero now.

They had made it to the zeta beams before Bruce spoke again, "I'm bringing you to the Bat Cave for the rest of the information." Dick nodded to show that he understood, following as they disappeared into a flash of light.

Seconds later, they were in the Bat Cave. Bruce was already striding away, cowl down, talking as he walked, "According to Ben, the Light found Wally in Antarctica six months after his – disappearance. They asked if any of the science bases in Antarctica had sheltered Wally for any portion of those six months, but all of them said that they hadn't seen anyone other than themselves or the other scientists in their time there. The Light deemed them to be telling the truth. I have to assume there were threats and physical harm involved. I hacked into the systems of the science bases and found something a little bit different. None of them had sheltered him, which was true. But they all noticed an odd energy spike on the day that the Light located Wally. I don't know what the energy spike is. I'm trying to get data on the energy given off by the MFD, but that's still a work in progress. I'd like to compare the two. That wouldn't give us a definite answer, but it would give us a start."

Dick's eyes lit up. Finally, a clue. He leaned forward to look at the screen as Bruce pulled it up, showing the energy spike that Dick knew he didn't have a chance at understanding. He pursed his lips. This would _probably_ be the time to tell Bruce about his gathering with all the people who were worried about Wally/inadvertently stuck on his case. This was going to be awful.

He closed his eyes and opened his mouth, but someone else interrupted him first. Alfred's voice petered down from the stairway, "Hot chocolate and biscuits, Master Bruce? Master Dick?"

Dick's shoulders drooped in relief, "Yeah, definitely, Thanks Alfred!"

Alfred smiled at him as he finally made it down the stairs and set the tray down on a nearby surface. He quickly set about preparing the hot chocolate to each person's individual liking before handing out the drinks with a small plate of cookies for each. Bruce looked resigned at the junk food (which was, admittedly, as healthy as Alfred could make it while still maintaining the wonderful flavor), sighing slightly before starting to eat a cookie.

Dick figured this was his best chance to speak without being yelled at too badly. Closing his eyes in preparation, Dick said, "I can take that information and give it to Jaime, Bart, and Barry. They're working on the Momentum case with me. Their part is to look more into the science behind the interaction between MFDs and speedsters. This should help them. And they've already got the data on the energy of the MFD."

Bruce froze. Alfred, seeming to somehow sense Bruce's mood, glanced towards the man in concern, lips pursed in concern. Bruce's voice was low and dangerous when he asked, "And since when were you working with the League?"

"It's not a League project," Dick managed to get out under Bruce's stare, "It's my project. I can bring whoever I want into it."

"Who all have you brought in?" Bruce questioned, abandoning his cookie in favor of giving Dick his full attention.

Dick resisted the urge to fidget, "A good number of people. The Team. The Outsiders. King Gregor. Bowhunter Security. Cheshire. The Rogues. Kaldur. Flash. Everyone who had a stake."

Dick could see the frustration growing on Bruce's face and felt himself get defensive. Bruce stood up, pacing furiously, "And what about our plans, Dick? Did you even think about that? We have a responsibility to the _world_ here. As much as you love him, you can't give up that responsibility just to save your boyfriend."

Dick reared back, shocked that Bruce would go there, "I'm sorry, _what?_ Are you – are you seriously suggesting that I'm _abandoning my duties_ to go be with my boyfriend? Is that seriously what you're implying?"

"Yes," Bruce stated, valiantly ignoring Alfred's glare from off to the side, "I am."

"That's _ridiculous_," Dick scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. He glared at Bruce, "I'm starting to remember some of the reasons why I left and became my own hero."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" Dick growled, "Screw you, Bruce! I _am_ trying to save the world! I'm trying to _stop_ the Light. Yeah, maybe I'm not doing the same thing you're doing. But guess what? I'm not getting in your way, either. The Outsiders are still going to respond to whatever ridiculous thing you make up to give them publicity. They're still going to save people. They're still going to gain support. They're still going to beat out Luthor's Infinity, Inc. You need to stop being so paranoid!" He stopped his tirade once he realized that Bruce was wincing. He narrowed his eyes, "What?"

Bruce sighed, "I know this is a… delicate topic for you, but we need to talk about Luthor's Infinity, Inc."

"Why would that be a delicate topic?" Dick asked, head spinning with the sudden cordiality coming from Bruce.

The older man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Infinity, Inc. is the public face and final form of Luthor's Everyman Project – the same experimental program that Wally was sold into when he was eleven."

Dick felt like the floor was dropping out from underneath him. Seriously? _Seriously_? How was it that they could never escape this? Dick felt like the heroes were just following twenty steps behind every plan that the Light had. Luthor had been working on this project for _over a decade_ and they just now notice it? No one had even bothered to investigate Luthor's sudden superhero team. They were an inconvenient competitor for the Outsiders that Batman's network tried to push out of the limelight by creating fake scenarios to make the Outsiders look better.

Then again, that was probably what Luthor was doing with his own group. Well, probably not. Where would he get the villains to fight against? Dick frowned as his eyes narrowed. Wait. Didn't the Rogues say that Argus was connected to the Light? Was Waller's Task Force X behind Luthor's group's rise to fame? There were layers within layers to all of this.

Bruce's expression had cleared by the time Dick lifted his head. His voice was almost gentle when he asked, "What did you realize?"

Dick grimaced, "I realized that this is a whole lot more complicated than we previously thought. I also _might_ have figured out a way to take Luthor down once and for all."

"We have a plan for that. And information backing our claims," Bruce said slowly.

Dick shook his head, "Come on, Bruce, we've all known since the beginning that we were going to need to go further into that plot. The most us exposing Luthor could do is get them to take away his status in the UN while they investigate further. And we both know that no one's going to find anything if they investigate further. Luthor's got too many connections. But what if it wasn't _us_ who was giving the world the information?"

"You think the Infinity, Inc. team members don't know about the Everyman Project," Bruce reasoned.

Dick raised an eyebrow, "Why would Luthor risk it? At the very most, he gave them a brief explanation that there was a thing called the Everyman Project and that's how they got their powers. They're just kids. Why would they bother to ask about all the research behind the Everyman Project? And they're probably super thankful for this chance, so they certainly wouldn't think to be suspicious of Luthor."

Bruce's eyes widened in realization, "You plan to not only tell them about the unwilling human experimentation, but also the kill switch on the powers."

"Absolutely," Dick grinned, "There's no _way_ that Luthor didn't keep that as part of the Project, not after how much he went through to get the research. Not with how paranoid he is, with how much of a control freak he is."

Slowly, Bruce gave him a small grin back. The words that had been said between them weren't forgiven – far from it, but it was a start. They had arguments all the time. They would get through this.


	17. Chapter 17

WWWWWW

Wally flopped back onto Jason's bed. The assassin/hero scowled at him, kicking (_hard_, jeez) at Wally's leg. Wally just bared his teeth at him, not willing to give up his comfy spot. First come, first serve as far as he was concerned. From where he had just closed the door, Wyynde sighed at their antics. Honestly, Wally felt the worst for poor Wyynde. He really had nothing to do with all of this and then ended up getting taken away from everyone he loved and stuck in a room with Wally and Jason. Real short end of the stick, there.

Jason kicked Wally again, more forcefully. Wally lifted just his head to scowl at him, "_What?_" The frown Jason wore so often that Wally swore it was his face's basic setting wasn't there, though. Jason looked _worried_, brows drawn together and lips tight. Wally sighed, voice slightly softer when he repeated, "What?"

"I thought you had spaced," Jason answered, characteristic frown returning when he realized Wally was alright.

Wally groaned and threw his head back onto the bed, "I'm _fine_. Honestly, I don't space that often."

"You really do," Wyynde said. Wally groaned. Great. Now he had both of them nagging him. Wyynde rolled his eyes, but kept going, "And they have been increasing in frequency. Something is seriously wrong."

"Yeah, well, there's nothing we can do about it. I don't even know _why_ I get the space-outs. Maybe it's the same reason I don't remember anything. Maybe it's not. I wouldn't know. But there's nothing we can do about it, so we might as well just ignore it," Wally said irritably. Once Jason started to get back more of his own memories, he'd turned into the single most aggressive mother hen that probably ever walked the earth. Wyynde and Wally had both gotten used to his method of screaming people better.

Jason pursed his lips but didn't argue. As much as Wally knew that Wyynde was trying to understand, he never could. Jason was the only one who could really get how it felt to just – not know anything. Well, sure, Wally had some little glimpses. He remembered the explosion and a little bit of his time in the water before Wyynde rescued him. He'd even gotten brief flashes of the actual rescue itself. He could think of a couple names that he could have potentially been called over the course of his life. There was a foggy image of a group of people wearing colorful outfits, but he'd never been able to make the image clear. He thought maybe they could be his family? He got a family vibe from them. Maybe. He wasn't super sure. There were other things, too. Needles, running, a backpack, a symbol that the other two had called the Flash symbol. Nothing that told him who _he_ was, though.

Ubu had overheard them discussing it and reported the lack of memories _and_ the space-outs to Ra's. He had come to their room later that night, gazing over them like the creeper he was before declaring that the issues Wally was facing were likely from wearing the inhibitor collar. Ra's theorized that, if the inhibitor collar came off, Wally's advanced healing would kick in and he'd be all fixed up. Of course, Ra's wouldn't _take_ the collar off because that would be too easy, apparently. Since Wally was a 'flight risk' or whatever. Rude.

Jason kicked Wally again. This time, Wally kicked back, "Will you _stop_ kicking me? What is your problem?"

"Please do not fight," Wyynde sighed, already knowing he was fighting a losing battle.

Jason scowled, "This loser's on my bed!"

Wyynde rubbed a hand over his face, settling gently onto his own bed, "Did you try asking him to move?"

"Yeah, Jason," Wally asked, "Did you try _asking_ me instead of just kicking me?"

Jason grit his teeth together, growling out, "Wally, would you move to your _own_ bed?"

"Say please," Wyynde reminded tiredly.

A temple was visibly throbbing on Jason's forehead, "_Please_."

"Nah, but thanks for asking. I'm comfy here," Wally answered flippantly, snuggling deeper into the bed for added effect.

That was, apparently, the final straw for Jason because he _body-slammed_ Wally, driving an elbow straight into Wally's stomach. Wally doubled in on himself, coughing and trying to not gag. Jason used the distraction to elbow Wally in the face, wrap his other arm around the back of Wally's neck, and _dump_ Wally over the edge of the bed.

Forced to the floor in mere seconds, Wally sat there in pained disbelief for a long moment. Once he blinked the stars in his vision away, Wally looked up to Jason smirking down at him. Wyynde had moved onto ignoring them completely, reading one of the books that Ra's was nice enough to let them have during their off hours.

"Oh, it's on!" Wally growled, shouting a brief war cry before leaping onto the bed with Jason.

Jason squawked, momentarily caught off guard. Wally tried to use that to his advantage, gripping a handful of Jason's hair while he used his other hand to smother the brat with a pillow. Jason kicked out blindly, managing to aim a solid kick straight between Wally's legs. Wally whined deep in his throat, tipping to the side for a moment. Jason batted the pillow away from his face, gasping dramatically. Wally bared his teeth at him before leaping back into the fight, aiming a sharp kick for Jason's shin before getting a hand under Jason's waist. He tried valiantly to roll Jason over, but Jason hooked a leg around Wally's forearm, ripping it out from under him. With a short yelp, Wally fell downwards, face smashing against Jason's collarbone. Jason made a low, pained noise as he tried to push Wally off his chest.

Giving up after that painful blow, Wally just flopped onto Jason, "I surrender."

"Then get _off_ my bed," Jason snarled, still trying to push Wally off. In retaliation, Wally pushed himself further into the bed.

There was a deep sigh behind them before Wyynde came out of nowhere and _picked Wally up_. For all that Wyynde was wearing an inhibitor collar just like Wally, it didn't seem to knock out all of his abilities. Wally would say that it only really removed Wyynde's sorcery (if that's what you wanted to call it. Wally called it science but hadn't been able to get a scientific explanation for it from Wyynde. Whatever. He'd prove that magic wasn't real someday). That being said, Wyynde had _zero_ problem grabbing Wally and dropping him off on his own bed. Wally pouted at him, but Wyynde was pretty immune to that, too. Which was tragic, honestly. Wyynde had been much better when Wally could pout him into submission.

Wyynde rubbed a hand against his forehead, "The two of you are exhausting to deal with. Sometimes I think all humans are exhausting to deal with."

"Yeah, maybe," Jason snorted, "But so are Atlanteans. You can't tell me that Kaldur isn't the worst brat." Wyynde laughed, loud and bright.

Wally's eyes narrowed in thought. Kaldur? Wyynde and Jason had mentioned him before. Apparently, Wally knew him. And a ton of other people that both Jason and Wyynde knew. They'd been able to confirm that Wally was, in fact, Wally West, aka Momentum from Jason's memories returning. It didn't explain why he was alive when Wyynde was fairly certain he'd died, but whatever. That's how life went, apparently.

Abruptly, completely randomly, Wally said, "Fishboy."

Jason cut off whatever he was about to saying, sitting up straight. Wyynde glanced between the two of them in confusion. That was fair. Wally was confused, too. Jason leaned over to Wally's bed and punched Wally's arm, "Dude! You're remembering?"

"I'm remembering _what_?" Wally asked irritably. For some stupid reason, even just thinking about that stupid phrase exhausted him.

Jason grinned, nonplussed, "You're remembering yourself! That's what you always called Kaldur!"

"What?" Wyynde asked, "That is rather rude. Do not call Atlanteans Fishboy."

"Well, I'm a villain and he's a hero, right? That means I was probably doing it to be rude. Should I be rude to you two? I'll call you Fishman and Jason Dead Meat. How's that? Here I am fulfilling my duty as a villain," Wally grinned.

Wyynde rolled his eyes, "Please do not call me Fishman. And sometimes I do not really think you are a villain anymore. Wherever you were during those two years, I do not think you were a villain."

"I think you're wrong. I feel villainous most of the time," Wally smirked, before frowning thoughtfully, "I don't know. I know I wasn't a hero. I don't want to be a hero."

Jason gave him a pitying look for about a second before moving onto talking about himself (typical), "I'm kind of thinking the same thing."

"Bro, we could be villains together," Wally grinned. Wyynde closed his eyes in despair.

"Nah," Jason said, "Not like that. I don't want to be a, a villain. I just know that heroes are too – constrained for me. I mean, Ra's is teaching us how to kill here, right? He's definitely been teaching me how to kill for a while. But heroes don't kill. That feels kinda stupid, though, right? Why don't heroes kill? It would certainly save a lot of problems. Criminals aren't going to go back and commit more crimes if you kill them."

Wally side-eyed him, "I am not the correct person to be talking to about this. Villain, remember? I, for one, am happy that heroes don't kill since I've apparently fought against heroes before."

Jason grimaced, "Right, sorry."

"No problem. But, yeah, I don't know. I feel like there are ways to stop criminals without, like, killing them, you know? But you do you. As long as it doesn't involve me or mine, of course. Once I figure out who 'mine' is," Wally threw back.

Wyynde tapped his bedside table, "Maybe we should be focusing on getting out of here before we focus on what we are going to do _once_ we get out."

"Hey, you've gotta plan for these things," Wally smiled.

Wyynde rolled his eyes again, but it was fond and soft, "Okay, that is fair. So, what are you going to do once we are allowed out?"

"Take the inhibitor collar off," Wally answered immediately. He paused before continuing, "I don't think the memories will come back all at once. I'll probably find somewhere to hole myself for a while, wait for the memories to return. After that, I'll go home. Wherever that is."

"You could just come with us," Jason offered, "We'd give you a place to hole up. One that's safe and has a steady source of food."

"As appealing as you're making jail sound, I think I'll pass," Wally offered tightly. He really didn't know anything about himself. But he knew that the thought of being constrained to a cell gave him the precursor of a panic attack, so… no thanks. He also knew that Jason and Wyynde felt that they couldn't give Wally as much information about himself as they would have liked because they were all worried about being watched. Without that information… Wally wasn't sure if he could really trust the heroes. Jason had said that they'd do right by him, but Wally couldn't trust that. Something in him balked at the idea of putting that much faith in _heroes_. It made him wonder even more just what kind of person he used to be.

Jason sighed, aggravated, "I'm not talking about jail, idiot. The heroes would help you. They'd get you home once your memories were back."

"That sounds illegal," Wally said, "You would knowingly let me go? With the full knowledge that I'd probably go commit more crime?"

Wyynde cut in, eyes soft with concern, "From what I had heard, Momentum is well respected by heroes. Rogues are not considered to be terribly, ah, villainous."

"No, they are not," a voice said from the doorway. The three jumped, whipping around to see Ra's standing there. Talia was standing just behind him, holding little baby Damian. Wally could definitely say that him, Jason, and Wyynde had all fallen a little bit in love with Damian. Even if he sometimes seemed like he could already kill them with a knife. Ra's continued once he was done smirking at their jumpiness, "Your training is almost complete. After that, I will be sending you to the heroes. You will not have a choice where you go. The heroes will have you whether you like it or not. I recommend that you take these next few days to work on any skills you might feel you're lacking in. You won't have a chance after that point."

"For literally _two months_ you've been telling us that we're not good enough. Jason _might_ be able to take down Ubu and Sensei without powers and without weapons, but I certainly can't yet. Probably because you beat us up so much that we're fighting at half-strength, but, you know, whatever. What's with the sudden change of heart?" Wally asked suspiciously. Wyynde and Jason both sent him a glare from either side. Wally ignored them.

Ra's smiled at Wally, giving him the shivers, "The wind is shifting. No longer can I hold you here until I feel you are ready. The world is ready now."

"You clearly know more than you're letting on," Jason growled, "Want to give us that info for when we go back to the heroes? That would certainly help."

"You can do it without me," Ra's answered dismissively, "I have trained you well enough for _that_ at least." He turned slightly for a moment to gesture his daughter forward, "Now, Talia said that Damian wanted to play with you before lights out. You have an hour."

"Wow, being generous for once in his life," Wally muttered under his breath.

Apparently, Ra's al Ghul has _bat ears_ or something because he whipped around, stalking into the room. He stopped directly in front of Wally, "When lights out happens, you will report to the main courtyard for your training instructions. Ubu and Sensei will train that insolence out of you."

Despite knowing quite intimately how Ra's felt about people fighting back or possessing the ability to be sarcastic, Wally quipped, "I don't know. I get the feeling a lot of people have tried over the years. It's just a natural part of my charm. No training can eliminate it."

Ra's eyes glittered, "We'll see, I suppose." With that, he finally left.

Jason reached over and punched Wally on the arm again, "Stop antagonizing him!"

"Jason is right, you know," Talia said softly, gently moving over to drop Damian in Wally's arms, "You would have gotten through this with significantly less scars and bruises if only you'd been less of a brat."

"Can't help it," Wally shrugged absently, raising a finger above Damian's face and letting the baby reach out for it, occasionally letting him grab the finger. He smiled softly when Damian giggled brightly after grasping the digit.

Talia was giving him an interested look when Wally next glanced away from Damian, "Did you know that you're a godfather?"

"What?" Wally said, head whipping fully up at the admission, "Are you serious? To whom? Who made me a godfather?"

"A… friend of mine defected from the League and became an antihero. She married a hero and had a child with him. That child is your goddaughter," Talia explained.

"Am I a good godfather?" Wally asked softly, not entirely sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

Talia glanced up at him, "I don't know. You disappeared before you really got a chance to be one."

Wally frowned, "That doesn't sound right. I don't know why I left. Why would I have gone away?"

"No one knows," Jason said, "And that's probably not going to change until you get your memories back." He reached over and tapped Damian lightly on the nose, smiling at the quiet gurgling Damian gave in response.

Together, the four of them cooed at and fussed over the baby, playing with him and talking softly. Talia was… interesting. Wally couldn't entirely say that he'd befriended the woman. She was too _sharp_ for him to consider it. Wally couldn't shake the feeling that he was just fodder for some goal. He couldn't shake the feeling that emotions were a slightly amusing hobby for the woman. Maybe he was reading her wrong. Maybe he was biased from so much time spent hating her father. Maybe it was some mixture. He didn't know.

What he _did_ know, however, was that Damian deserved a better home. Maybe he didn't deserve to be taken from his mother, but he certainly deserved to be raised _anywhere_ other than the League of Assassins. How could Wally possibly leave him behind to be raised as a bloodthirsty assassin? That seemed… that seemed _horrible_. No kid deserved that life.

But what could Wally do? It sounded like Ra's was going to leave the three of them trussed up outsider the heroes' door like some sort of present. That wasn't exactly the sort of situation that made it easy to rescue a baby. Also, like, that was definitely kidnapping. Had Wally ever kidnapped someone? He would feel better if Damian _wasn't_ the first person he kidnapped. Maybe he'd taken Damian and give him to the couple that made him a godfather. They already had a kid and Wally had apparently approved enough to agree to be a godfather. And one member of the couple had previously been a part of the League of Assassins. That meant that she'd know how to handle them if they got uppity.

Then they could try to figure out who the actual father was. If they could find the father, then they'd see what the next step was. Wyynde and Jason would help Wally escape with a baby, right? That seemed like the kind of thing they'd do. Maybe. Hopefully. Wally would have to think about this more.

Before he knew it, their hour was up. Talia stood languidly from where she'd been sprawled over the floor. She plucked her baby from Wyynde's grip before heading to the door. She looked over her shoulder at Wally, "Coming?"

Wally groaned, "Yeah, yeah. Only a couple more days of this, yeah?" Talia only smirked in response.

As Wally made his down the hallways of this island getaway, he started plotting and planning. Sure, Ra's had them all under his control at the moment. But that wouldn't be forever. After all, he was a criminal first and foremost. And every criminal knows that it's easiest to escape in transit.

LLLLLL

Len clenched his jaw. He hated how much he'd relied on Cheshire's information and connections to arrange this meeting. How far had he fallen after Wally's supposed death that he'd had to rely on an ex-assassin to meet with his own adopted son? Whatever. That didn't matter. He needed to stop being so prideful. He could get even later. For the moment, he needed to focus on getting things done.

The first step in that was convincing Cameron to come back. It was, arguably, also the hardest step.

That's why they'd needed so much of Jade's help. If the Rogues had even hinted that they were trying to meet up with Icicle, then Cameron would have gone so far underground that they wouldn't have seen hide nor hair of him for a month. It wouldn't be the first time. But with Jade's help, they'd managed to make it look like it was some random person who wanted to hire Icicle for something.

Now all they needed to do was actually have the meeting. Len had made the executive decision to limit the amount of people. He was, of course, going. He'd brought James and Hartley with him as well. Cameron had always been closest to the other kids. Of course, Cameron had been the absolute closest to Wally, but that was part of the problem, wasn't it?

Len's head whipped up when he heard the door open. Cameron was there, standing in the doorway and looking shocked. Good to know that they didn't rely on Jade for nothing. Cameron really didn't know that it was the Rogues he was going to be meeting with.

It was obvious that Cameron was about to leave. He practically had a foot out the door already. With a nod of his head, Len sent James off. James hopped up quickly, launching himself at Cameron and shouting loudly, "Cam! It's been _so long_! Come on, come _on_! Catch me up on _everything_ that happened while I was in the hospital!"

The pity on the faces of the other patrons at the restaurant made Len sick, but he resisted the urge to ice them all. They'd had to meet in a public place to reduce the risk of Cameron leaving. Because if they were in public, then they could use other people's judgement to their advantage. There was no way Cameron could comfortably get out of this after that spectacle. Len was pretty sure that some of the old ladies in the restaurant would actually go out and hunt Cameron down to make sure he had this conversation with James.

When James managed to drag Cameron back to the table, Len had to resist the urge to smirk. Success. Well, step one was a success. The way Cameron was glaring at them made the rest of the steps seem a bit more daunting. Ah well, Len would figure it out. He raised his hand for a waiter, getting Cameron a glass of water, no ice. He then picked up his own menu, prompting his kids to do the same, "Order whatever you want. I'm paying."

Cameron's hands were clenched so tightly around the menu that he was crinkling it, but that was alright. The waiter came back shortly and the four of them ordered. It was awkward. Much more awkward than Len wanted it to be.

Once the waiter was gone, though, Len could focus in on what he'd come there to talk about, "We need to talk, Cameron."

"Yeah," Cameron muttered, "I got that."

Hartley offered him a smile, "You might even like some bits of the conversation." Cameron made a noncommittal noise, resentment simmering in his eyes.

Len sighed. He'd debated for a while how to do this once he finally got ahold of Cameron (he hadn't expected it to take two months but you do what you have to do). In the end, there was only one method he could use. Len looked Cameron straight in the eye and said, "Wally is alive."

Cameron choked on his drink, coughing and spluttering as James happily passed him a stack of napkins. Hartley was glaring at Len for his lack of tact. Len shrugged. Once Cameron had collected himself, Len continued, "We found out about the possibility a bit ago. We've been trying to confirm one way or another. Two months ago, we had it confirmed that Wally _is_ alive. We've been trying to track you down since."

"You're lying," Cameron said the minute Len stopped talking. He said it firmly, definitively.

Hartley frowned, "He's not. Wally's alive. We have multiple eyewitnesses and even a video of a redheaded speedster."

"Someone would have told me. I would have found out," Cameron said. He frowned, putting a hand to his forehead, "Wait, where is he? If he's alive, why wouldn't you bring him with you? And why do you need eyewitnesses? Where is he if he's really alive?"

"That's… complicated," Len drawled. Cameron scowled at him. Len scowled right back, "Give me a chance to explain before you completely shut me down and maybe I can _un_complicate it, yeah?" He waited a second to see if Cameron would respond before he started explaining, "Six months after he disappeared, the Light found him."

Unsurprisingly, Cameron interrupted after the first sentence, "The _Light_ has him?"

"Let him finish explaining!" Hartley scowled. Cameron wilted instinctually before he puffed back up again, blue ice starting to creep over his arms. Hartley pointedly looked at the ice before looking back up at Cameron. Cameron sighed, clearly getting himself under control.

After a moment, Len started explaining. He gave as quick of a run through as he could. It was a _lot_ of information. He'd had to briefly pause as they were all given their meals. By the end, Len felt wrung out. He didn't like talking that much in one shot. Especially not about things like this, about one of his kids being hurt and lost and alone.

Cameron was looking down at the table, nervously playing with his food, "I can't believe he's alive."

"Well, he is," Len said. Hartley glared at him again.

Cameron took a shuddering breath, abandoning his fork to put both of his hands over his face, "I left the Rogues because I thought – because he was dead."

"What were you going to say first?" Hartley pushed gently, "Why did you leave the Rogues?" It was something that a lot of them had wondered. When Cameron did it, he'd simply said because Wally was dead, and he felt like the rest of them had dissolved into a mess (which was truer than Len wanted to exist). That hadn't really explained why he was leaving his _family_ and it certainly didn't explain why he would go and join Onslaught afterwards, but they hadn't been able to get ahold of him long enough to really ask.

There was a long pause. Len thought he wasn't going to answer. Then Cameron sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face one more time, "I left the Rogues because I was certain that it was your easy-going attitude towards – towards crime and heroes and all that that had gotten Wally killed. I mean, why else would he have been out there _saving the world_ if it wasn't for that? We're supervillains! We don't save the world! We're the ones ending it! And don't even try bringing up Luthor. We all know he just did that as a publicity stunt. But because you all are so close to the Flash family and Dick and all those archers and the Team, because you allowed _Wally_ to get so close to all of them, Wally _died_ doing something he should _never_ have been doing."

"Would you have preferred that he didn't?" Len asked mildly, "Would you have preferred that he let the world be destroyed by that MFD?"

"N-no, of _course_ not," Cameron scowled, "That's stupid. Of course I wouldn't have preferred that. There are plenty of other speedsters, though. The original Flash could have done it. Or Max Mercury. Or Jesse Quick. Johnny Quick. Liberty Bell. Those are all _superhero_ speedsters. Why was it a supervillain who saved the world? I just didn't want to keep getting mixed up with heroes. I didn't want to see all of _you_ getting mixed up with heroes. They're dangerous to us. We're cannon fodder for them. They're just using us. I wasn't going to sit around and let that happen. And if you guys were, then… I couldn't help you and you couldn't help me." Len opened his mouth to say something, but Cameron beat him to it, adding softly, "And… it hurt me, to be in the Rogues. I wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for Wally. He saved my life so many times. And I couldn't save his."

"So, why join the Light again after everything you've been through with them?" James asked, leaning softly into Cameron's side.

Cameron shook his head, "It was less about joining the Light and more about joining up with people I knew. With people who knew what I hated about the Light and who wouldn't treat me like the others used to. With Onslaught, most of us are around the same age. We understand what it's like being metahuman kids in crime circles. It's not easy. But it was better with Onslaught. We're almost independent from the Light. Our only contact with the Light is through Queen Bee. Otherwise? It's like the Light doesn't even exist and we're just – doing stuff."

"And you're fine with watching other kids like you being bought and sold? I heard you worked security at metahuman trafficking depots. You're okay with doing stuff like that?" Len asked, trying to be non-judgmental and gentle at the same time and probably failing.

Cameron's fists clenched and he looked seconds away from crying, "I _know_ what I did was awful. I _know_ that. But… it didn't seem to matter. I mean, I felt bad for those kids. Obviously. I just – just. We didn't start off doing stuff like that. We did little things. Jobs that I was used to working with you. We weren't doing anything _really _bad. It was fine. And then I guess Queen Bee just built us further and further up until stuff like that didn't really matter all that much. I don't know. I just wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere where I fit in. And I fit in with Onslaught. And – and sometimes when I see the metas at those depots, all I can think is that Wally would have saved them and then I tried to figure out if he would have saved them because he's been tainted by heroes or if he would have saved them because that's just the kind of person he is and I couldn't figure it out, so I just went with the most convenient option because that was _easier_, okay?" Cameron had hidden his face into his shoulder at that point. Len was thankful they'd thought ahead and rented a small room off the back of the restaurant. This would have been awkward otherwise.

Not that it wasn't awkward _now_, of course.

James attached himself to Cameron's side, cuddling into him and making soothing shushing noises. Hartley looked like he wanted to walk around the table and do that same thing. Len waited for a moment, letting his kid cry for as long as he wanted to. It looked like it was a long overdue cry, honestly.

Eventually, Cameron looked up again, face splotchy, eyes red and puffy. He sniffed before saying, "Now what?"

"That's up to you, kid. I want you to come home. The Rogues want you to come home. But you're an adult now. Do _you_ want to come home?" Len asked. He didn't know what he'd do if Cameron said no. What _could_ he do? It was like he'd just said. Cameron would always be his kid, the same way all of them were his kids but the fact of the matter was that they were all grown up at this point. He couldn't send them to their rooms anymore.

Cameron swallowed, "Onslaught isn't made up of horrible people."

"They're killers," Len said, voice flat.

"So am I at this point," Cameron said frankly, "So is Wally now, apparently. You can't tell me that most of the rest of you aren't killers. I know most of you are. I wasn't part of the Rogues when I killed people. That's what matters. Neither were they."

Hartley choked on his food, "I'm sorry, _what_? Are you suggesting that Onslaught become _Rogues_?"

Cameron's shoulders rose up, defensive, "What if I am? And I obviously don't mean _main_ Rogues. I just mean, like, side Rouges. Honorary members or whatever."

"Do you really think they'd be able to follow the rules? Do you think they'd be satisfied pulling jobs in Central and working on my orders? I've heard the rumors, Cam. I know that there's a rising segregation in the criminal underground. I know that some people are starting to say that meta villains are superior. I've heard your Onslaught buddies are the same. Do you think they're going to take orders from a regular human?" Len asked. Vaguely, he thought back to the beginning of his criminal career. This was _never_ something that he thought he'd need to be worried about. Honestly, what had his life become? It got weirder every year.

Cameron sighed, "I just… I don't want to abandon them."

"Let's do a mental exercise," Hartley announced randomly, "How would they react if you told them that you were leaving Onslaught to go back to the Rogues?"

Cameron frowned, "They'd be mad. Really mad. They'd try to make me stay. They'd probably guilt trip me into staying, honestly."

"Did you ever think that maybe Queen Bee saw a twenty year old who just lost his best friend, his _brother_ and who had just given up his family because he was afraid of losing them, too, and saw an opportunity? Did you ever think that maybe that sense of home and belonging was fabricated to pull you back to the Light?" Len asked carefully. He didn't want to set him off and lose this chance entirely. But… it was something he'd been thinking since Cameron first disappeared off into the Light's clutches.

Closing his eyes and resting his face back into his hands again, Cameron sighed, low and tired, "I just want to be safe. I want people to stop _using_ me."

James piped up again, clearly hurt, "We're not using you!"

Cameron frowned, "No, but you're letting the heroes use you. Use _us_ when I was still a part of you. Wasn't that part of the reason why Wally joined the Light the first time? The heroes were using you to deal with the whole split adult and child world thing, so he bailed?"

Hartley's jaw clenched as he clearly remembered the experience. Len vaguely remembered that Hartley had blamed himself for Wally running off even though it clearly wasn't his fault. Hartley sighed, trying to keep himself calm, "They weren't using us. We were working with them. That's how things go. There have been just as many times where _not_ working with heroes has caused as many problems as you seem to think working with heroes has caused."

"And there's something you're not getting," Len added, "The Rogues aren't _used_ by _anyone_. We're a family, a unit. _We _make the decisions about what the Rogues do. _We_ decide if we're going to make sure that the world isn't falling to pieces around us. _We_ decide whether or not we're going to work with heroes. Got that? You're a Rogue until I say you aren't, and I haven't said that about you yet. You are _always_ welcome home and you are _always_ a part of us. If coming back means that we have a family discussion and really talk about this, then I don't see the problem with that. Of course, you should know that we're working with the heroes right now to try to get Wally back. Once we get Wally back, though, we'll all sit and talk through all of this. _Together_."

Cameron swallowed, eyes still bright and red, "How… how do I come home? They won't let me leave without a fight. Whether – whether they're really just manipulating me or not, they'll get mad. So, how do I do this? How do I leave?"

Finally letting out a smile, Len reached over the table and put a hand on Cameron's shoulder, "With us. You leave with us. You know we'll keep you safe. The rest? We'll figure out later." He paused before asking, one more time, "So, you ready to come home, Cameron?"

And Cameron looked up at him, determined, "Yes."

BBBBBB

Bart buzzed anxiously in his seat. This was – this was huge. He had a _huge_ responsibility in this whole thing. That wasn't even including how _big_ this whole thing was. But Bart was motivated. He didn't want people getting suckered like he was being suckered.

There was a low-level rage simmering in his bones. He just – he couldn't _believe_ it. What on earth had Dick and the others been _thinking_? Bart could _not_ believe that Batman had had that stupid little secret ring. He'd had all of the heroes dancing on the end of his string for so long. Had it been amusing for him? Had it made him feel better to be able to control heroes because he couldn't control his own villains?

Bart took a shuddering breath, calming down a little bit. That was unfair. All of that was unfair. Because, honestly, Bart understood the purpose of keeping secrets. He did, really. He could even get it in this specific case. Bruce hadn't been _entirely_ wrong. And he'd certainly managed to boost the Outsiders. Sure, there was no way to prove that the Outsiders wouldn't have gotten those rating without Bruce's machinations. But that didn't matter. In the end, none of it mattered. The secrets were out. It was over. Bart needed to calm down and focus on the present. They confessed eventually. The Outsiders could move on, now, on their own two feet.

And, this time, they could help another group do the same thing.

Bart glanced over the table at Infinity, Inc. They were sitting prim and proper, backs straight and smiles gently curving their lips. The three of them looked more put together than any one on the Outsiders, which was saying something when two of their members were actual royalty. Bart resisted the urge to sigh. Honestly. He felt like he had some kind of excuse because, hey, he was only two years out of the apocalypse future of the world that he prevented. Everyone else? No way.

Luckily, this was supposed to be the quick part of the day. A little meet and greet in front of the crowd (that, thankfully, Garfield was mostly handling with some of his signature charm if not the innate grace that the Infinity, Inc. people seemed to possess) and then the two groups would go into a room and have a nice, long lunch and chat together. That was when Bart and Jaime were supposed to shine. Ugh.

Bart snapped his head up at the sound of applause. Were – were they done? That was quick. He noticed, towards the back of the room, Luthor quietly speaking to the producer. Ah, makes sense. Luthor wanted to minimize the chance for the Outsiders to look good on screen. Of course, this was also minimizing the chance for _his_ team to look good, but he probably figured it was worth the risk. Good. That meant that Luthor thought they were a threat.

The teams stood as one, giving a short wave and smile session for the cameras before filing into the lunchroom. They had been _promised_ by Luthor on live television that there would be no recording equipment in the room, that the two teams would be completely alone. It clearly made Infinity, Inc. nervous. Bart, for his part, thought there was no way that Luthor left the room unbugged. Thankfully, they had Jaime and Vic to sweep the room and make sure that it was clean. Or, well, to forcibly make it clean if they had to.

The two groups sat on a circular table. Garfield made sure that he was in the middle of 'their side' with Jaime and Bart at the edges for when they started to make their point. Infinity, Inc. had Trajectory sitting next to Bart and Nuklon sitting next Jaime, which left Starlight in the middle.

They ordered quickly and made awkward small talk while they waited for the food to arrive. It was clear that Infinity, Inc. felt off-put by the entire meeting. It was unexpected and unplanned. Luthor had no hand in it. The only reason he'd even _agreed_ to the meeting is because Garfield had issued the proposal over national television where Luthor _couldn't_ say no.

Once the food arrived, though. It was down to business.

Garfield put on his best business face and began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, being real here, I have legit no clue who the people in YJ's Infinity, Inc. is. They named Trajectory and she wouldn't have been super hard to figure out either way, but that places this group in the second phase of Infinity, Inc. and… I can't find people who look like the other two? Like, what second phase Infinity, Inc. dude is bald? Which chick has white hair? I'm so confused. So, I made my best guess/picked ones that I liked or whatever. This is just in case you actually know who those two are supposed to be and get offended that I'm using totally the wrong people, haha.


	18. Chapter 18

BBBBBB

Bart resisted the urge to bounce his leg up and down at superspeed when Garfield started talking, "I know that we probably made you curious or even wary when we asked to meet you in private like this. We are not here to try to hurt you, physically or emotionally. We want to help you."

"And you think we need help?" Starlight – Natasha Irons, if Bart remembered correctly – asked archly, clearly trying to not be offended.

"Yes," Garfield answered instantly, causing a number of eyebrows to fly up in surprise. Bart resisted the urge to whistle incredulously. Garfield was not pulling punches. Just as Starlight was gearing herself up to say something, Garfield started speaking again, "We don't think you need help because you're not capable of dealing with the threat yourself. We think you need help because you don't even know there's a threat you need to deal with."

"Even if there was some sort of threat, why would you tell us about it? You could let someone take out the competition," Starlight argued back. On either side of her, her teammates shifted nervously. They were clearly taking Garfield's words seriously enough to be afraid of this unknown threat.

Garfield frowned, "This _isn't_ a competition, Starlight. This is the real world and we're heroes. It doesn't matter if our two hero groups seem competitive in the media. What matters is that there are people who need saving. Everyone deserves to be saved."

Starlight didn't seem to know how to take that. She drew back a little bit, finally breaking poise enough to glance slightly over at Trajectory. The girl shrugged a shoulder, expression troubled. Eventually, Starlight faced back towards Garfield, "Okay. What are you saving us from?"

"Well, hopefully it'll be our two groups working together to save you. But we're saving you from Lex Luthor," Garfield said.

Nuklon and Trajectory burst into raucous laughter, a hand over their mouths as they tried to calm down. Even Starlight had snorted slightly in surprise, "_Luthor_? You think we need saving from our benefactor?"

To Garfield's credit, he didn't even flinch, "Yeah, I do. He's not your benefactor. He's your _controller_. Have you heard of the Everyman Project?"

_That_ got the Infinity, Inc. kids to quiet down real quick. It was almost impressive. Starlight's voice was cold again when she demanded, "How do you know of that name? Luthor said that it was a secret. He said that no one would know what it was."

"No one except someone who went _through_ it and the scientists on the project," Garfield corrected.

"Someone who went through it?" Trajectory asked, "We're the only ones who went through the Everyman Project. It was theoretical until he -." She cut herself off quickly.

Garfield gave Bart the nod, so he picked up from there, "Until he gave the three of you your powers."

"How do you _know_ that?" Starlight demanded again, something panicked in her eyes. It wasn't fear, though. She really didn't know anything about the Everyman Project.

Bart took a deep breath before bringing some of the files he'd been keeping in his ring. He passed them over to the three members of Infinity, Inc., ignoring their surprise at the files seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He started talking before they even started reading, "Those files are the from the testimony of someone who was a part of the early phases of the Everyman Project. Sure, you three probably are the first three to be given powers. But don't you think that Luthor would need to study metahumans before he could start making people into metas? Luthor bought and kidnapped metahumans and experimented on them for years to perfect that formula. Someone I'm good friends with was sold into the Everyman Project by his own father when he was eleven years old. He was there for two years before he escaped. Luthor managed to get him back when he was fifteen, but we rescued him eventually. He wasn't the only on to go through this, though. He's just one of the rare ones who survived the experiments."

There was silence, heavy and horror-filled, as Starlight, Nuklon, and Trajectory read through the information. It was only Wally's testimony in there. They'd give them more papers with more information when the time came. The Outsiders wanted to take this as slow as possible in the hopes that the Infinity, Inc. kids really believed them.

It was Trajectory who spoke first, "He's a speedster, like me?"

"Yeah," Bart said, voice soft, "Yeah, he is."

"He's alright now, though? He's safe?" Trajectory asked, glancing at Bart. She must have seen his wince because she started looking at the rest of the group, getting desperate when people dropped their heads, "Is he still alive?"

"Yes," Garfield said, "Well, hopefully. Yes. He's alive. Uh, the group Luthor works for got him back again over a year and a half ago. They lost him a little over two months ago. We… we don't know where he is. He and an Atlantean who was with him at the time went missing. We're looking for them, though. We're going to find them."

Nuklon looked sick, "That means that Luthor had him, was _doing_ stuff to him while we – while we were getting our powers and – and _praising him_ for being so kind and helping us like this."

"If what they're saying is true," Starlight interrupted, looking vaguely sick herself. Bart could understand why. They'd tried to cut down on the details as much as possible and be as clinical as possible when decided what parts of Wally's testimony they'd use, but it was still horrible stuff, no matter how much they took out. Bart almost wished that Wally was here to tell them this stuff. The dead tone in his voice, the way he'd had to pause and just _breathe_, the way he'd sometimes whisper to himself that he was _out_, was a lot more convincing than a sheet of paper ever could be. But Bart also wouldn't want to ever force Wally to talk about it again. When Bart, Barry, and Dick convinced Wally to talk about it for them _to_ make the testimony, Wally had disappeared for the next week to go out and do a spree of super high-profile heists. It had caused a fight or two, but Bart kind of understood. For Wally, committing 'fun' heists like that were a stress relief. Bart could understand needing a stress relief after talking about stuff like that.

Ed grimaced, "Look, not all of us have read that testimony because most of us know who gave it and that's some seriously private stuff, but I've read it. You really think we're going to make all of that up just to make you suspicious of Luthor?"

"And did you really think that's the only evidence we have against the guy?" Vic asked incredulously.

"What other evidence do you have?" Starlight asked.

"Heaps of it," Jaime answered, "We've got _several_ eyewitness reports of Luthor overseeing this. One from one of the scientists under his control, one from an ex-assassin with the League of Assassins, one from a current superhero who went undercover with the group Luthor's working with, several from all of the Rogues. That's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head."

"We also have digital evidence stolen from a facility with videos of Luthor overseeing this stuff and with signatures from Luthor signing off on these things. Plus, we know a group of heroes who actually fought him on more than one occasion when he was working that a certain group," Virgil added.

"You keep mentioning some group that Luthor's working with," Starlight noted, "What is this group? Who is it?"

The Outsiders went silent at that. Talking about the Light was… dangerous. These other teenagers needed to focus on getting out of the situation they were in. They didn't need to add a super complicated evil organization to their to-do list.

So, imagine his surprise when Garfield looks at Starlight and admits, "They're called the Light."

"Beast Boy!" Jaime and Bart hissed at the same time.

Garfield set his jaw and ignored them, "They are evil. Pure evil. This is only a small part of the horrible things they've done. They were the ones who brought the Reach to Earth. They were the ones who helped Luthor with his Everyman Project. They were the ones who ran Cadmus. They are the ones who are running the big metahuman trafficking ring. They're the ones who tried to kill my girlfriend on one occasion and kidnap her on another. They're the ones who are responsible for the deaths of several heroes. They killed my mother. At this stage, we can use all the help we can get to take them down. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm asking you to help. That's why my teammates were surprised I said anything. You have enough on your plate with Luthor. We would never ask you to take on more. But, you need to know this stuff. Luthor is incredibly intertwined with the Light. I don't want to give you only half the information."

The Outsiders settled, mollified by that admission. It was probably true. There were certainly a lot of times where Bart would have wanted to go into things with a lot more information than he actually had.

Starlight nodded to Garfield before gesturing her two teammates in closer. She started whispering to both of them. As a sign of respect, Bart and Jaime both turned their bodies away, looking at their own team and trying to ignore the whispering behind them. Bart caught the look that Tara was giving Garfield and wanted to wince. Right. He could imagine that this would be rough for Tara. What if they decided to look more into the Light and found Tara's involvement in it? What if they found out that she was the missing princess of Markovia, too? That would be a PR nightmare for King Gregor. And it would be a plain nightmare for Tara.

Starlight looked back at the group, "Do you have proof of the – of the experiments? Do you have the science? I want to take a look at it and see if it actually makes sense."

"Sure," Bart said, pulling out the rest of the information. He hesitated for a moment before handing it over, "Listen, there's something I want to tell you before you read it. It's part of why we think Luthor is a danger to _you_, specifically. There's… there's a kill switch built into the Everyman project. When the guy from the first papers ended up back with Luthor the second time, that was so Luthor could research putting in a kill switch on a metahuman's powers. There's no doubt in my mind that he did the same thing to you." He handed the papers over. All three of them were staring at him in horror, faces chalky white.

Trajectory whispered, "If he knocked our powers out during a battle…"

"You would die. Likely it would happen so fast that the public wouldn't even be able to tell that your powers had been cut. Your own teammates might not even realize that your powers had been cut, especially if you didn't know it was possible in the first place," Jaime answered, giving the straight truth but trying to gentle it with his voice.

Trajectory's hands clenched into fists, "It would be a publicity stunt. Or maybe he'd do it if one of us started getting suspicious or if we weren't performing as well. Maybe it would be all three reasons. But I could see him doing it. I would – he could kill us so easily and there'd be no way to prove it. To the rest of the world, there's, like, zero definitive information about metahumans. Even if there was an – an investigation, no one would be able to tell if it was purposeful or if my powers just – did something weird."

"Especially for a speedster," Bart added softly, "I don't know if you're the, well, the same _kind_ of speedster as I am, but, for us, our powers are super confusing. It's really hard to tell what's normal or not."

Trajectory gave him a small, terrified smile, "I don't think I'm the same kind as you and Flash. I, uh, I'm not nearly as fast as you two."

"Not yet," Bart teased, trying to take a little of the terror out of her smile. He knew that what they were telling Infinity, Inc. was really, really horrible stuff and it meant they were in deadly danger. Still, they were here to help. They weren't alone anymore. If they worked together, then they wouldn't need to be so scared.

Trajectory snorted, dropping her head a little bit. Starlight spoke up next, "They're telling the truth. At least, the science checks out. Luthor… Luthor definitely did _successful_ research on how to eliminate powers. Do you – do you know if the powers can be turned back on?"

"Yes," Bart answered, "Well, at the point where we last heard anything about it, it could be turned back on. But it also hadn't been perfected at the time. The person could get their powers to kinda sorta work while the powers were still 'shut off,' so…"

Starlight's shoulders dropped and she sighed, "Okay, we believe you. What do we do from here on out?"

"First, we've got some more information for you," Garfield said, waving his hand to get Jaime to hand over the papers. It was basic information detailing more of Luthor's deeds that they've witnessed over the years. Obviously, nothing they could definitively prove or Luthor would have been put away by now, but it was still things that for sure happened. They even talked about his connection with the Reach and their 'super drink' or whatever. There was a lot of information missing, though. They weren't expecting Garfield to tell Infinity, Inc. about the Light. Garfield continued, "Second, that's up to you, honestly. Like I said, we wanted to help you by making you aware of a threat. If you want us to do more, we're totally willing to do more. If you want us to back off, we will. Reluctantly. We want to help. We also really want to take this guy down."

Starlight scrubbed a hand over her face, "What can we even do? If we're looking at him like a villain, he _owns_ us. We're not the slightest bit in control here. If we take him down, then we're taking ourselves down as well."

"Are you kidding?" Ed asked, "He might have you right now, but not if you take him down. You can make your own team. Run yourselves. No matter how you got your powers, you are heroes. That's not going to change. I mean, seriously, you guys were so ready to become heroes that you went through an experimental procedure to do it. That's _awesome_, guys. Losing your backing isn't going to stop that."

"Losing the money will," Nuklon frowned, "We don't always have a rich actor backing us."

"You could," Garfield said, "I would be fine backing you as well. Or I can find someone else who's willing to do it. Some people are just looking for reasons to spend their money. I can find someone who wants to spend it on aspiring heroes."

"Then we'd just be under someone else's control," Starlight said, clearly frustrated.

"Not if you don't let it. We're not under Beast Boy's control," Vic said, "He's a friend. He's a teammate and a team leader. He's not controlling us. And maybe this means that you just keep a backer long enough to be able to pay for it yourself. And even if not… there are heroes out there who aren't rich or famous. They survive on their own. They can do what they need to do with the money they have. You've got two teammates to help you bear that load. The Justice League is always willing to help out heroes, too. You don't even need to join. I know Nightwing gets help from the Justice League and helps them all the time. He can use their healing chambers and doctors and stuff, too."

Cassandra gave a wry smile, "Here's another point against Luthor if you need one: he's trying to destroy that. Anyone who's not part of a big group that's registered with the United Nations will be screwed over. They'll be considered illegal vigilantes and they'll have to fight against the bad guys and the good guys. They won't have the resources they have now, not unless whatever group they want help from wants to break the law."

"Luthor's using us to do that," Nuklon said, putting his head in his hands. He hissed out, "I feel so _stupid_. How could we not see that we were being used?"

Garfield frowned, likely remembering the recent fight with Batman and his band of merry liars, "Trust me when I say that we've all been there in some form or another."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you haven't been helping a supervillain who tortures people in the name of 'science' just because you've been wrapped around their finger," Trajectory said miserably.

Tara reached over and poked Garfield. Garfield grimaced but nodded. Tara took a deep breath before she said, "I have."

Starlight's head whipped up, "What?"

Tara's lips trembled, but Brion grabbed her hand and she managed to rally herself, "I have. The Light? Deathstroke is working with them. Over three years ago, he kidnapped me, gave me metahuman abilities, and – and did awful things to me. He made me feel like I was reliant on him. He made me scared of him. And he made me into a monster. I did… a lot of bad things. He sent me undercover with these guys, so I could report on them to the Light. I did it because they had that guy you read the testimony of. He's like a brother to me at this point and they said they'd hurt him if I didn't keep being a spy. So, I did. When he escaped, though, I told these guys the truth and I stopped being a part of the Light. So, yes, I understand what it feels like to be used and used and used and not truly understand just how much."

"Terra," Starlight said softly, clearly unsure how to respond to something like that.

Garfield reached behind Brion to put a hand on Tara's shoulder, "I can't name a single one of us who hasn't been horribly hurt by the Light. We've been betrayed and used and abused by them. We're going to take them down. Maybe one at a time. Maybe all at once. But Luthor's been part of the main group of the Light for at least a decade at this point."

Starlight looked to her teammates, getting sharp nods from each of them. She turned back to the Outsiders, "We'll help you take Luthor down. And… and we'll help you take the rest of the Light down. Because you're right. We are heroes. We're here to save people."

"That means a lot to us," Garfield said warmly, "I look forward to working with you."

Hesitantly, Starlight smiled at him, "Yeah, same. Now, we've got just under an hour to make a game plan. Should we get started?"

Both teams smiled at each other and easily dove into conversation. This was working better than Bart could have hoped.

WWWWWW

Wally drifted slightly. He'd managed to get night punishments all the way up to the day they were going to be transported to the heroes. That meant that he was really, really tired. Like, really tired. He wanted to sleep for the next three years. Maybe Ra's al Ghul had realized that Wally was going to plan an escape and he wanted to put Wally out of commission before he could act on it.

That sounded like Ra's, honestly. Douchebag.

Wally groaned, clutching his head. He had a headache. Jason elbowed him sharply, "Maybe if you'd listened to me and stopped making him mad, you wouldn't be feeling like this!"

Wally groaned again, dropping his head further down. His voice was muffled but serious when he said, "Not now, Jason." He could feel Jason's muscles tensing, but he didn't do anything other than put a comforting hand on Wally's back.

Wyynde spoke softly, "Try to get some sleep while we are sitting here. We will wake you up if anyone comes."

"It's fine," Wally said, "I've got too much of a headache to sleep anyways."

"We are almost out," Wyynde responded, running a gentle hand through Wally's hair, "Once we are back with the heroes, things will be better."

Wally sighed, "I wish we could help Damian."

"Talia's kid?" Jason asked curiously. Wally nodded before wincing and just giving them a thumbs up. Jason made a soft 'hm' sound, "Unless we could get your collar off, there's no way we're getting the kid with us. We'll have to come back for him."

Wally snorted, "Yeah, like they're going to still be here once we leave. You said the heroes already know where this place is. They'll be out probably at the same time we are." He wished it was as simple as just getting his inhibitor collar off. Especially if it meant there was a reason to get it off. He knew that Wyynde and Jason were worried about taking it off because they thought he was going to split the second it came off (they were right). There was a good chance that, if he ended up with the heroes, he'd never get the thing off. And he needed it off. The longer the thing was on, the worse it got. There was some sort of impotent anger rising and falling in his system.

Wyynde had said that he found Wally with an inhibitor collar around his neck. How long has it been since Wally had gone _without_ one? When he thought about it and tried to remember, that impotent fury rose within him. There was something about that inhibitor collar, about needles, about a little girl that made his power spark and writhe under his skin. Something that made him angry, especially at the collar. He could feel his powers shoving against the inhibitor collar, warring with it, trying to beat it.

He didn't understand why he felt this way. He didn't remember. Sometimes, when he saw the scars covering his body, when he remembered needles and scared little girls, he thought that he really wasn't sure if he wanted his memories back. Most of the time, that wasn't true, but… there were times he felt that way.

Wally was scared of his memories and, at the same time, wanted them more than anything.

None of that mattered, though, when the door opened, putting all of the residents of the island in the same room. Jason, Wally, and Wyynde stood. They tensed, wary, when Ubu and Sensei came to cuff them all. Wally grimaced when they clicked the cuffs around their wrists before wrapping a chain through the cuffs, around their waists, and then down to their ankles where another set of cuffs kept their legs close to each other. This felt a little like overkill. Well, Wally was at least glad that they didn't feel the need to loop the chain through his inhibitor collar, too.

Still, these demeaning restraints caused that anger to bubble up just a little further.

Once they were properly secured, Ra's al Ghul motioned towards the door with his head. They filed out, shuffling as quickly as they dared, lead by Ubu and followed by the others. It wasn't until they were in the main courtyard that Ra's decided to address them again.

He looked them over, lips pursing in what was probably disappointment, "I have trained you as much as I could in the time I had with you. Now, you must go back to the heroes and help them. They are facing a great threat. It is one that could easily end our world. And it is not the Light. There is something far greater and far more dangerous. Gather as many allies as you can."

"Or," Wally said, testing a theory while letting out his inner snark, "You could just come with them and tell us yourself. Or, like, actually give us information." Jason hissed in annoyance behind Wally, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that when Sensei punched Wally in the face, it ticked his underlying fury up one more notch. Perfect. Escape plan perfected.

Ra's gave Wally a disappointed look, "There was a time, when you were younger, that I really thought I could make a good assassin out of you. Maybe I could have molded you when you were younger. Clearly not anymore."

"Clearly you were too stupid to realize that I'm not going to play pet assassin for you," Wally grinned. Ra's twitched before sighing. Apparently, Sensei took that as permission to _throat chop_ Wally. Honestly, if Sensei was any less skilled, that would have killed Wally. Jason and Wyynde's hands were at his back, holding him up and trying to pull him back where, presumably, they thought he could cause the least amount of damage. Too bad for them. Wally grinned at Ra's, speaking through a hurt throat, "Rude. Also lazy. You going to have Sensei do all the work for you?" Sensei kicked Wally's legs from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. Wally had to catch his breath before he continued, "Oh, I see now. You're too old to come down here and do it yourself."

Sensei landed a barrage of punches on Wally, sending him curling into himself on the dusty floor. Ubu was holding back both Jason and Wyynde. Once Sensei was done, Ra's glared down at Wally, "Gag him." No, no, _no_. Wally needed to get angrier. Just a little more. He was almost there. Just a little more and he'd be free, and they'd all get _out_ of this mess.

Sensei kicked him in the head, dazing him as his face slammed against the ground. Sensei yanked him back by his hair, grabbing a wad of something and putting it in Wally's mouth. He quickly grabbed a length of cloth and tied it around Wally's head, keeping the wadded-up thing in his mouth. The whole time, Wally was struggling, kicking and hitting and wriggling as much as he could with his arms and legs and waist chained together and a huge assassin sitting on his back.

In the end, though, it didn't matter. It didn't matter because the second that cloth was tied around his head, Wally _snapped_. No one – _no one_ – was going to take away his ability to talk. Not after everything else he had suffered. Not after so long of being hurt and afraid. How _dare_ they?

Despite having zero recollection of ever having used superspeed, the feeling of it rushing back into his veins is familiar and more comforting than he could have imagined. In less than a picosecond, he had slipped out of his bonds and stood up. He could feel his inhibitor collar short-circuiting around his neck. He was glad it didn't shock him to.

There was something _good_, something _powerful_ in the way fear danced in the eyes of the assassins around him. Good. They should be afraid. Maybe Wally was a Rogue and maybe they weren't particularly villainous. But Wally didn't remember being a Rogue and he was feeling really, really villainous. He had Damian in Jason's arms and Ra's, Talia, Ubu, and Sensei all tied up before anyone could so much as _twitch_ in response.

Ra's al Ghul laughed bitterly, "I suppose I should have seen something like this coming. You have faced a lot in your life, even if you do not remember it. What will you do with us now?"

Wally glared down at him, lightning racing through his veins and crackling over his skin. He felt powerful. He felt like he could do anything. And yet… "I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to take the others and I'm going to leave."

"You would leave us tied up?" Ra's asked mildly.

"No, of course not. I'll chain you up. Much harder to get out that way," Wally answered, giving him what was probably a mildly unhinged smile.

Ra's raised an eyebrow, "We would die."

"Not my problem," Wally answered.

Behind him, Wyynde hissed, "_Wally_!"

"What?" Wally asked, "If they can't get out, then that's their own fault."

"Please, please don't kill anyone – or leave anyone to die which is the same thing – in front of a baby," Jason said, sounding tired and maybe a little scared, too.

Wally looked back. He could see Damian staring at him placidly. Talia was looking at him, too. There was fear in her eyes and Wally had, for a moment, believed that it was fear of him, and he'd been proud. It wasn't, though. Despite all the odds, despite her callous behavior, despite her likely being a sociopath, she cared for that baby. She was terrified at the idea of losing him.

Wally forced himself to calm down. He ripped the dead inhibitor collar off and stomped on it once, using those actions to let some of his anger bleed out. He tied Ubu, Sensei, and Ra's al Ghul to nearby trees. He had no doubt they could get out of that. It would just take a while. A long while. Probably not long enough for them to suffer, unfortunately, but long. Then he grabbed the chains that had been used to secure him and he further restrained Talia. He ran through the hallways, finding her room and gathering together anything baby-related that he could carry. He rushed over to the pier and dropped it all in a boat.

He was something approaching calm when he finally got back to the courtyard where the others were waiting. Wyynde and Jason looked almost like they were afraid of him. That made something in his gut lurch, but he ignored it for the moment. He frowned at them, "There's a boat already warming up at the pier. It's got Damian's stuff in there. Take it and go wherever you need to go. I'm out."

"Wait!" Wyynde cried. Wally looked back at him. Wyynde bit his lip and said, "Your nose is broken. Please let me set it before you go out."

Wally felt his shoulders droop in relief. Good. That was good. That meant that Wyynde wasn't really that scared of him. Wally nodded and walked over. Wyynde had just put his hands on Wally's nose when an inhibitor collar cinched around his neck.


	19. Chapter 19

WWWWWW

For a moment, all Wally could do was stand there, eyes wide and heart thudding in his chest. The lightning that had temporarily become a part of him was forced back under his skin, lashing and fighting against the restraint. It hurt, just a little. Wally's hands shook.

Jason stepped away from Wally as soon as he finished putting on the inhibitor collar, shifting Damian back into a two-handed grip like the baby was a shield. Wyynde started apologizing as soon as Jason stepped away, "I am so sorry, Wally. I am so sorry. We could not let you run off now, though. Please, do not get angry with us. This will be better, I promise. Once you get your memories back, you will understand that this is what you want."

"How," Wally started, wincing when his voice cracked. He couldn't tell if it cracked because of emotion or because he'd been throat-chopped by a martial arts master. Probably both. He tried again, "How do you think I'm going to get my memories back if I don't – if I – if I keep wearing an inhibitor collar?" His voice sounded dull. Dead.

Wyynde winced, swallowing before answering, "The others will be able to help. I am certain of it." Wally didn't say anything.

From behind them, Jason sighed, "C'mon. We should get out of here. The longer we dawdle, the more time they have to escape while we're still within punishing range. I would prefer to not deal with that."

Carefully, Wyynde stepped closer to Wally, "Will you come with us willingly or will we have to restrain you?"

Wally clenched his jaw, remaining stubbornly silent. He considered just going with them, just giving in and letting people he actually liked (somewhat; their recent actions made them quite a bit less likeable) take him somewhere for once. But… he couldn't do it. He might not know what kind of person he was before his memories cut off, but he knew who he was now. And he wasn't the kind of person to just roll over. He wasn't anyone's pet. He wasn't anyone's property. If they were going to take him somewhere, then they were going to have to _take_ him. Stubbornly, Wally put his arms out in front of him, waiting for someone to cuff him.

Wyynde closed his eyes in despair, but Jason growled angrily. He stalked up to Wally, hissing, "Are you serious? Grow up, Wally! Just come with us!" There was an underlying tension in his words, part exasperation, part despair. Wally didn't care. They were the ones who did this to him. They were going to have to deal with the consequences of their actions. He stayed silent and kept his hands out.

Letting out what Wally had come to realize was an Atlantean curse, Wyynde scrubbed a hand over his eyes and grabbed one of the pairs of cuffs that Wally had taken off of him earlier. Wyynde looked Wally in the eye one more time, giving him the chance to take it back, to go with them freely. Wally didn't change his stance. Wyynde sighed, placing the cuffs loosely on Wally's wrists.

Jason rearranged Damian so he was leaning comfortably against Jason's shoulder. With his other hand, he gripped Wally's cuffs, dragging him towards the peer. Maybe he thought that Wally was less likely to try something if it meant potentially causing harm to Damian. Where would he even go, though? There was only one boat off the island. Wally wasn't bitter enough to take away their only means of escape.

Wyynde started dragging Talia. She bared her teeth, but it seemed to be more of an instinctual reaction than anything else. After that moment of rebellion, she complied quietly, trailing behind Wally and in front of Wyynde. It was somewhat humbling to see her caring so much about Damian. Well, maybe it wasn't about Damian. Maybe it was about her and she was just playing them. Wally didn't know. Maybe it didn't matter.

He glanced behind him, meeting Talia's eyes. She glanced at him emotionlessly before flicking her eyes down towards his cuffs. She smirked. Wally growled at her, stopping abruptly and turning back around. Jason cursed as Wally's stopping caused his arm to jerk. Wally stalked up to Talia, glaring hotly. He got right up in her face and snarled, "What? Do you think you're better? Do you think you're better than me because I _spared_ you? Do you think you're better than me because you might actually be okay at faking feelings for your kid?"

"No," Talia responded coolly, "I think I'm better than you because I'm not stupid enough to make 'friends' who'll only betray me."

Wally lunged towards her, cuffed hands reaching out towards her (her neck? What was he planning on doing?). He was jerked back before he could, coughing as Jason caught his inhibitor collar with one hand. Wyynde yanked Talia behind him, standing between the two. He glared at Wally and then at Talia, "You two need to _behave_. Even with a high-tech boat, it will take a long time to get back to America."

Wally raised an eyebrow, "Do any of us actually know how to drive a boat?"

"You do," Jason said judgmentally.

Wally sighed, "Maybe I did know. I don't anymore. You want to risk our ability to get back to America in one piece on the chance that I've got some sort of muscle memory of driving a boat?"

Wyynde sighed, "I know how to drive a boat."

"Really? Why would you need to?" Jason asked incredulously.

"Sometimes boats need to be brought back to shore," Wyynde responded defensively.

"Can't you just," Wally paused to carefully form finger quotations, "'magic' them back to shore?"

Wyynde sent him a dirty look, "It _is_ magic, and it is easier to just drive the boat. Of course, I can use my magic to supplement the speed of the boat."

"That what you going to do here?" Jason asked, starting to shove Wally to walk in front of him. Wally grit his teeth against the frustration. If it was _anyone_ else pushing him like this, he would have snapped again. But this was Jason and Wally just couldn't muster up the same kind of anger. For all that Jason and Wyynde had betrayed him, Wally knew that they genuinely believed they were helping. Stupid heroes.

Wyynde nodded back to him, towing Talia behind him. Clearly, they'd decided that Wally and Talia needed a two-person barricade between them. They probably did. Wally didn't know what he would have done if Talia had kept talking.

In relatively short order, Jason and Wyynde got the two supervillains into the boat. Jason raised an eyebrow when he saw the amount of baby supplies in the boat, "Literally when did you have time to do this?"

Wally glanced over, "Right after I chained up Talia."

"I literally couldn't even tell you'd left the courtyard," Jason said incredulously.

Wally resisted the urge to send him a grin and finger guns, instead just scowling, "Yeah, I'm fast. It's a thing."

Jason rolled his eyes, shifting Damian again now that they were finally settling down. Wyynde had locked Talia in what was apparently a cell deep in the rather large boat. After a second, Jason elbowed Wally and deposited Damian in his arms. Wally hissed in alarm, trying to get his hands to the right position to hold a baby while they were chained together, "What are you doing?"

"If you're going to be stupid, then you're going to have to deal with the consequences," Jason responded, eyebrows up judgmentally.

Wally glowered at him, "You are an exceptionally obnoxious little brat."

"Little brat?" Jason growled, eye twitching.

"You heard me," Wally growled back.

Jason sighed, irritation leaking out of his posture as he clearly tried to calm down, "Look, I want to talk."

"I don't," Wally muttered, figuring it wouldn't really matter.

Predictably, Jason kept going as if Wally hadn't spoken. He was shifting uncomfortably, probably because feelings were going to be brought up, "I know you don't understand right now because you don't have your memories back, but this really is the best option for you. And, I don't know, maybe you still won't understand afterwards. None of us know where you were in the two years between 'dying' and now. I don't know what about you changed in that time frame. I don't know what about you changed since _I_ died which was even before that. But, I swear, when I last knew you, you would have gone with us willingly in this situation."

"Just-," Wally started, not entirely knowing where he was going. He stopped before trying again, "Explain to me why. I know you said there were some things that you couldn't explain because of where we were. What were those things? You can tell me know. Explain it."

Jason glanced around him like someone could possibly be listening to them as the boat slowly eased out of the port. Wally hoped he wasn't the type of person to get seasick. Jason bit his lip before leaning in and admitting, "Look, you have really close connections with the heroes."

Wally rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Whoever these Rogues were, they were close with 'their hero' or whatever. You've mentioned that."

Jason growled at him, "Shut up, I'm still talking. Okay, so, that wasn't your only connection. First and foremost, we've told you about the Flash, right? He's your uncle."

"My what," Wally said flatly, not even really a question. He'd heard just fine, and he knew that Jason wouldn't make that up. Well, probably not. He had also 'known' that Jason and Wyynde would let him go if he got free, so, apparently, he didn't know them so well after all.

Jason grimaced, "Yeah, he's your uncle. I think his wife is your biological aunt? It's kind of weird that you both ended up being speedsters when you're not even biologically related. But yeah, that's one of your connections. You're also super good friends with Red Arrow. I think you were his criminal informant. And you're basically a little sister to Cheshire, an antihero. Didn't Talia say that you were the godfather to their child, too? They didn't have a kid last time I was alive, so not sure about the validity of that. But, more than those, your boyfriend is a hero."

"My _what_ is a _what_?" Wally yelped. He had a boyfriend? Poor dude. The man must have thought that he was dead for the last two years. Not a great thing. How long had they been dating? Hopefully not too long. Well, actually, maybe hopefully a long time. Wally was sure once he got his memories back, he'd want his boyfriend to not have moved on. Then again, it had been two years.

Sighing, Jason pulled his attention back again, "Your boyfriend is Nightwing. I think we've mentioned him a couple times. He was Robin before I was. He was still Robin when you guys started dating, though."

Wally frowned, rocking Damian back and forth absent-mindedly, "Why am I a villain if I have all these hero people in my life?"

Glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Jason snorted, "Are you serious? Did you not see yourself when you broke through that inhibitor collar with pure determination? You looked like a villain, man. If we hadn't said anything, you definitely would have left all of them to die and just kidnapped Damian. If that doesn't explain why you're a supervillain despite all your hero friends, then I don't know what will." Jason paused, the half-grin he was wearing slipping away, "Plus, you've had a pretty trash life from what I've heard. I don't really know all the details because we weren't super close when we were both alive the first time, but it was awful, apparently. And I guess the first people who weren't awful were, well, the Rogues. They're supervillains and maybe it was just easier for you to be a supervillain. I don't know."

Wally scowled at him, "Why can't you just let me go? Who cares if I apparently know all these people? I'll come back if I do. I'll come back if I want to. Are you trying to help _me_ or _them_?"

"It's not a you or them _situation_," Jason sighed, scrubbing at his face, "It's an _us_ situation. _We_ want to get you back to safety to all of _us_ can be happy."

"Don't assume I'll be happy going back," Wally frowned, "Apparently I didn't go back when I 'died' or whatever."

"Or you were taken by someone. Or you had no memories. Or both. I would have gone back if I could have, but I didn't because I didn't even realize there was anywhere to go back to. But I've been gone for even longer than you have," Jason said. Wally sighed a little. He _knew_ that Jason had it tough. But Jason was a hero who would be going back to more heroes.

Wally turned away, focusing on the kid in his arms, "Whatever." Jason just sighed in response, leaning back against the edge of the boat. Grudgingly, Wally asked, "Do I get seasick?"

Jason just laughed at him instead of answering.

DDDDDD

Dick sighed in relief when they finally got all the kids settled. Thinking back, M'gann was right when she had said that this was good practice for having actual kids. If they could manage _this many_ kids, then they would be able to handle one or two for themselves.

Artemis smirked at him, "Tired already, old man?"

"Yes," Conner answered for Dick, causing the rest of them to laugh. The kids looked over, eyebrows raised judgmentally. They thought they were so cool just because there were so many of them.

Then again, there really was a _lot_ of them. The Outsiders, the Team, and even the Batman, Inc. kids. Artemis had even convinced Will and Jade to come over and bring Lian.

M'gann had decided that everyone needed a no-stress environment to calm down and relax and start building trust back up again. Between the way Batman and the others had manipulated the Outsiders, the secrets Dick had kept from everyone, and Tara admitting to her role as a mole, that probably wasn't a bad point at all. They all had some broken trust between them.

Dick was just wandering over to the table with a platter of fruits when Vic complained, "I wish the Infinity, Inc. guys could come to this."

"Why? Because you're crushing on Starlight?" Bart teased. Vic leaned over towards him murderously. Everyone started laughing.

Violet lit up (not literally), putting one finger in the air as she asked, "Since you are on the Outsiders and she is on Infinity, Inc. and they are considered 'competitors,' does that make you star-crossed lovers?"

"We aren't _lovers_!" Vic howled, burying his red face in his hands. Garfield had toppled off his chair, transforming into a hyena halfway there, filling the backyard with creepy hyena laughs.

He was cut off partway through a laugh when Lian screeched, "Doggy!" and launched herself onto Garfield's back. Jade was watching on with an eyebrow raised. Will was clearly unsure if he should go interrupt or if he should let it be.

Tara gently jostled Perdita, commenting in a loud stage whisper, "You have competition."

Perdita grinned before dramatically clutching her chest, "Oh however will I compete with such cuteness? Why, I should just give up now! Let Lian take my boyfriend's affections!"

Garfield weaseled (literally) his way out of Lian's hold, switching to a purring cat as soon as he managed to launch himself onto Perdita's laugh. She giggled before running her fingers through his fur. Ed grimaced at them, "That is so far beyond acceptable PDA, it's not even funny."

"Does it really count?" Jaime wondered, holding his own girlfriend's hand under the table, eye twitching like it normally did when he was blatantly ignoring whatever Khaji was telling him.

Stephanie leaned over from where she was leaning against Tim, "I would almost say blatant bestiality is worse."

"Annndddd we've gone past acceptable conversation to be having in front of small children," Artemis said, gently smacking the back of Stephanie's head. Stephanie pouted up at her. Artemis rolled her eyes, unrepentant.

Dick chuckled and moved to stand back by Will and Jade, "You two were the smart ones, staying out of the line of fire."

"Teenagers are evil," Will responded confidently. Jade smirked in agreement.

Dick snorted, "Some day your kid is going to be a teenager, too."

"She'll be the best kind of evil, though," Jade purred. Dick shivered at the implications.

Will sighed, "Please don't turn our daughter into an assassin."

Jade shrugged, "Even as a baby, murder made her laugh. I can't help what she's born as."

Dick sent Will an alarmed look, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Long story," Will muttered, pouting at his wife. Jade had moved on to tapping some sort of note into her phone. Will sighed.

Before Dick could say anything else, Dick's phone rang, Sighing at the interruption, Dick pulled it out. Before he could even see who it was calling, Brion called over, "No phones!"

Dick spluttered, "Are you serious? Someone has to have their phones on them! I'm involved in several cases at the moment – police _and_ hero!"

Before Dick could get out another excuse, Bart was there, pulling the phone right out of Dick's hands and yelling, "Yoink!" behind him. Dick gaped at him.

Artemis started laughing, hands on her knees as she bent over with the force of it. M'gann and Conner leaned against each other, giggling quietly. They were probably making fun of him in their mind link. Rude. Even Kaldur was quietly smirking at him. He hadn't laughed since Wyynde had been taken, but this was closest he'd gotten in a while. Dick rolled his eyes, smirking back.

They were interrupted by the sound of another phone ringing. Virgil asked incredulously, "Seriously? We said no phones, guys!"

Kaldur blushed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and sheepishly turning it off. Against his will, Dick felt something uncomfortably like paranoia stirring low in his gut. What were the odds that he and Kaldur would be contacted within a minute of each other? Someone must need to get ahold of them. And the only case that they were both on was…

Artemis scowled at Dick, "Oh no. I know that look. You agreed that today would be no business."

He scooted closer to her, speaking quietly, "What case are both Kaldur and I on? It could be important."

"And we're not?" Artemis asked archly. Dick had planted the seed of doubt in her mind, though. She knew exactly what he was talking about. The seed grew into a tree when her phone started ringing as well.

Ed through his hands in the air, "Are we the only ones who _don't_ have our phones on?"

"I have my phone on," Perdita informed them. When she got glares in response, she shrugged, "I, at least, have the excuse of being a queen. My people could need me."

Dick just barely heard Garfield whisper into Perdita's ear, "That's hot, babe." She giggled when Jaime made a retching noise from the other side of them.

Ignoring the friendly jeering and complaining from the kids, Artemis answered her phone, putting it up to her ear, "Hello, how can I help you?... This is she…. A… who? Could you repeat that, please?... I'm sorry, could you please put this person on the phone?" She raised her eyebrows at whatever she heard in response to that statement. She coughed at whatever was said next, fumbling and almost dropping her phone. The rest of the yard was silent at that point, invested in the phone conversation. They only got more invested when Artemis yelped, "_Wyynde_?"

Kaldur's head snapped up and he practically teleported to Artemis's side, demanding, "Put it on speakerphone."

"_Artemis? Artemis, are you still there?_" A voice that was clearly Wyynde's, even if it was distorted, asked.

Another voice piped up after Wyynde's, "_See, idiot? I told you that you should have told her more gently!_"

Wyynde snapped back, "_What do you know about being gentle?_"

"_I'll show you gentle,_" the other voice threatened. That voice didn't sound like Wally. There was something familiar about it, but the distortion on the phone made it impossible to tell if that was just wishful thinking. Who could it be, though? It took a lot to get Wyynde to snap at someone, so whoever they were, they had clearly gotten down to Wyynde's last nerve.

Cautiously, Kaldur spoke, "Wyynde? Is that really you?"

"_Kaldur_," Wyynde breathed out, "_Yes. Yes, it is me. It is so good to hear your voice again._"

Kaldur nearly melted, relief slackening all of his features, "Where are you? We will come get you."

"_Ah_," Wyynde hesitated, causing a pit to open in Dick's stomach, "_That might not be so easy. I am afraid, well. We have been arrested for stealing a boat, unlawfully docking in a private dock, and kidnapping. Thankfully, I was recognized as an Atlantean, so they are giving me deference while waiting for an Atlantean ambassador to arrive. I told them that I would contact some people first._"

"Wait," Dick said, "First of all, who is _we_? Second of all, why would you call me first and not Kaldur?"

Wyynde sighed, low and tired, "_That would be _Jason's_ fault. He insisted that we should call you first even though it made more sense to call Kaldur as he is an Atlantean. Although, I do find myself mildly confused as to why you are all together and yet only Artemis answered her phone._"

"You didn't answer my first question. Who's we?" Dick asked desperately. He was probably being rude, but that didn't matter. Clearly there was this other person – Jason – but Wyynde had indicated that he and at least one other person were being arrested for kidnapping, so that likely meant that Wyynde and this Jason figure were arrested for 'kidnapping' other people. Dick had no idea what _that_ meant. If Wally was with them, then why would officials think that he'd been kidnapped?

Wyynde's voice was softer with understanding when he replied, "_Wally is here with me, Dick. He is – still having complications with his memory, though, so please be forewarned. Beside him, there is Jason, Talia al Ghul, and her son, Damian_."

Conner choked, "Her _what_?"

Dick had already checked out, though. Wally was there. Wally was _right there_. Dick could finally get him back. It didn't matter if he was having memory complications. All that mattered was that Dick could finally get him back after over _two years_.

Dick cut off whatever Wyynde was saying about Talia al Ghul and her kid (which, admittedly, was not something that Dick had ever imagined being a thing), "Where are you? How do we get you out?"

He could _hear_ the wince in Wyynde's voice when he answered, "_I am not certain how easy it will be to get us released. When Jason and I came into port, we did have a baby in our arms and two people restrained in various parts of the ship._"

"Can't you just say that you're a hero and were apprehending people? I mean, Wally and al Ghul _are_ both supervillains, so you wouldn't be lying," Garfield asked. He had wandered over at some point during the conversation. When Dick looked up, he realized that most of the others had gathered around as well. He felt his heart warm at the silent support he was receiving from all of them.

"_If they knew that, though, then they would take them away. I wish for them both to come with us,_" Wyynde answered. Dick raised an eyebrow. Why on earth did they want Talia? Then again, they did have her kid. Maybe that was why? How young was this kid? How did they not know that there even _was_ a kid? This was a very bizarre scenario.

Or maybe Dick was just having a hard time processing it because he was so happy at the thought of seeing Wally again. He wasn't going to let Wally slip out of his fingers. Not again.

"Okay," Kaldur said, pulling the whole group back on track, "At the very least, Batman's lawyers should be able to get you out of trouble. I will ensure that the Atlantean ambassador that is coming to you is aware of the situation as well."

"_Thank you, Kaldur,_" Wyynde said sincerely. He paused before admitting quietly, "_I really missed you, Kaldur. I thought of you every day._" There was a retching noise behind him. When Wyynde spoke again, it was back in that irritable tone, "_Jason, I swear, if you do not stop making noise, I am going to _hurt_ you. And you know that I can. I just spent three days in a boat with you. I am at the end of my rope._"

The other voice, Jason, apparently, snapped back, "_Why don't you yell at Wally? He was the most obnoxious!_"

"_Wally did the most to take care of the baby. Wally is also not here. He is being held in a different part of the building. Or are you too seasick to notice that?_" Wyynde hissed.

"_I didn't get seasick! It was your trash job docking that made me sick!_" Jason growled back. Wyynde made a wordless noise of frustration.

Will and Dick shared a look. That was… wow. It really took a lot to wind Wyynde up. Who _was_ this guy?

Kaldur had walked away by that point, already on the phone to do the things he'd promised Wyynde. At this point, it was only a matter of time. Dick was going to get Wally back. He was _going_ to get Wally back.

WWWWWW

Wyynde glanced curiously at Jason as he slumped once the phone call ended, "Are you alright?"

Jason shook his head, uncharacteristically vulnerable, "I thought I was ready for them to know who I was until I heard Dick's voice. How can I tell them that I've been alive this whole time? How can I explain that I _died_? I – I _fought_ them, Wyynde. Dick was there with the others and some kids I don't know. I fought them and stopped them from getting what they wanted. I think. Some of those details are kind of fuzzy. But… I've been gone for so long. How can I just come home?"

Wyynde put a comforting hand on Jason's shoulder, "You heard how excited Kaldur was to hear from me. You heard how excited _Dick_ was to hear about Wally. I have heard of their grief over your death. They will welcome you back as surely as they will welcome back Wally and me."

Rubbing a hand over his face, Jason said, "Okay, okay."

Carefully, Wyynde put a hand over Jason's shoulder, pulling him in closer. Wyynde had bonded with Jason and Wally over the time they spent under Ra's al Ghul's control. He would consider them to be very good friends at this point. It hurt him to see how scared Jason was, especially with the knowledge that he was so much younger than Wally and Wyynde.

It didn't matter, though. That fear would go away soon. As soon as they could see their loved ones again, everything would be better. It would. Wyynde would make _sure_ it was.


	20. Chapter 20

WWWWWW

Wally groaned when Wyynde and Jason were sheepishly let into the room, "Didn't you get arrested for kidnapping me? Why are you here? Leave me alone."

Jason rolled his eyes and stalked over to Wally, grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him up, "C'mon, we're going home. Batman sent a car for us or whatever. I guess they don't want to crowd us with people in the middle of this random coast town, so we'll be meeting up with people we know later. Damian's been brought somewhere safe. Someone already picked Talia up. I think she's locked up in the Watchtower or something. I wasn't really paying attention."

"Shocker," Wally sighed. He jerked his shoulder out of Jason's hold and stood his ground, "And why should I go with you? For all I know, they're going to treat me better here. They didn't even cuff me."

"That is because they locked you in a cell instead," Wyynde sighed, "We are going to take you back to your family."

"Yeah, maybe the old Wally would call heroes his family, but this Wally says no to that," Wally frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jason growled, "We're bringing you back to the Rogues, idiot! I mean, yeah, they'll be with the heroes, but they are villains! Now get up and follow us to the car or I'll _make_ you follow us."

For a moment, Wally considered resisting again. He'd said that he wasn't going to lay down and take this. They had to know as well as he did that if they just let him out of the collar, he'd come back if his memories came back. And if not? Then he was better off making a new life anyways. In the end, though, it wasn't worth it. He was pretty sure he got his point across when he made them cuff him on the boat. Doing it again would just be… petty. And maybe Wally was a petty person, but at the moment? He just felt tired.

Wally's shoulders slumped and he started walking out of the cell, "Yeah, whatever." He could _feel_ Wyynde and Jason exchanging looks behind his back and tried not to feel too offended by it. They weren't really the ones at fault for making the situation feel like a superheroes vs. supervillains situation. Wally knew that it was his own stubbornness that was causing the rift between them. Well, okay, putting the inhibitor collar back on him had been the ultimate douche move, but at least that was done with somewhat good intentions whereas Wally's contribution to this rift were done with pure spite and stubbornness in mind.

Still, that didn't mean that Wally didn't feel the rift. It didn't mean that he felt like anything other than a lowly criminal being escorted by two heroes. To try to shake off the feeling of loneliness that settled over him (how could he _not_ feel lonely? The only people he remembered had betrayed him), Wally let himself fall back a little, determinedly walking between Jason and Wyynde instead of in front of him. He wouldn't look at either of them, but he could see Wyynde's relieved smile out of the corner of his eye. Jason was still scowling somewhat, but that was his default setting, so Wally wasn't too concerned.

Just before they left the station, Jason hesitated, causing the other two to pause as well. Wyynde looked over at him curiously, "Are you alright, Jason?"

"No," he admitted quietly, "This is a mistake. They're not going to believe it's me. Or they're going to get mad that I was gone so long even though I didn't remember them. I should just… bail. Find somewhere else to go."

Wally scowled at him, "Absolutely not. If I'm not allowed to, then you most certainly aren't allowed to." Wally's expression brightened, "Unless you wanted to take my inhibitor collar off and then we could both make a run for it."

"Absolutely not," Wyynde commanded, "Wally, please stop talking. Jason, we have had this conversation before. You believe that they will be pleased to see Wally, correct?" He waited for Jason to nod before continuing, "Then they will be pleased to see you. It does not matter that you have been gone for longer. That just means that there will be more relief."

Jason swallowed hard, looking at them nervously for another moment. Then, he shook himself, taking a deep breath and facing the doors again with more determination. He nodded, "Alright, I'm ready."

"Took you long enough," Wally muttered under his breath, but he also jostled Jason's shoulder lightly in approval. Jason hip checked him back. Wyynde sent them both a fond smile.

It was then that a car pulled up in front of the police station. It was a tasteful black car with tinted windows. Apparently neither Jason nor Wyynde considered that this car might not be for them because evidently things just showed up at the perfect time for heroes because they both started moving towards the car, no hesitation. Wally caught up quickly, hissing, "How do you know this is our car?"

"Batman said it would be black," Wyynde answered.

Wally tried to not roll his eyes too aggressively, "Right. Of course. How dumb of me. There couldn't possibly be any other black car at the front of a police station. Because no one other than Batman has black cars. Forgive my ignorance."

"You are so paranoid," Jason hissed back.

Wally elbowed him, "It's not paranoia if they're-,"

He was cut off by Jason elbowing him back with twice the strength and groaning dramatically, "If you say 'they're really out to get you,' I'm going to hurt you."

Wally smirked, "It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you."

Jason growled, "That's it!"

Luckily (or, perhaps, unluckily), Wyynde stepped between them before they could do any damage, grabbing a fistful of each of their shirts. He hissed down at them, "_Behave!_"

Wally glanced over at him, "You were a lot more chill when I first met you."

"I wonder whose fault _that_ would be," Wyynde sighed. Wally and Jason both shrugged at the same time. They grinned at each other in acknowledgement. Wally's grin faded quickly, though. He didn't want to be grinning alongside Jason. Not this quickly after Jason betrayed him.

(And if there was a part of him that was begging him to go along with Jason so he could find this mysterious family of his? If there was a part of him that was hoping against hope that these superheroes could bring his memories back and stop the space outs? Well, if there was a part of him like that, then Wally was firmly ignoring it.)

Wyynde quickly opened the back door and the passenger-side front door, hustling Jason into the front and sitting in the back with Wally. At first, Wally was a little affronted, but he realized that it probably made a lot of sense to separate Jason and Wally.

The moment the doors closed, some of the tension leaked out of Wyynde's shoulders. It was clear that he hadn't really felt like he'd made it back until he'd gotten in this car. The person in the driver's seat turned around and faced them, "Master Wyynde, Master Wally. It is a pleasure to see the two of you safe. And then, I am not certain I was given more than your first name, Master…," The old man in the front seat trailed off, expression going slack.

Jason's mouth had fallen open and his arm had discreetly snuck behind the chair, towards Wyynde. Sensing what he needed, Wyynde quickly grabbed Jason's hand, grounding him as Jason gave the old man a shaky smile and said, "Hey, Agent A. Been a while, huh?"

To give credit to the old guy – Agent A or whatever, - he composed himself pretty quickly for someone who was clearly facing two people he'd thought were dead. He sent Jason a bright, loving smile, "Master Jason. I am afraid that I wasn't expecting you. Master Dick will be displeased to know that you have won the contest on who can startle me first."

Jason grinned back, some of the shakiness fading away in the face of Agent A's acceptance, "Dick deserves to be shown up like that. Did the new Robin get in on that bet? Have I beaten him out without even meeting him?"

"Indeed, Master Jason," Agent A smiled indulgently, "Now, I am certain that you all have quite the tales to tell, but unless you wish to tell me now, I would recommend that you hold onto them until we have reached the others. It will be easier to only tell the story once."

"So…," Wally wondered out loud, "Anyone going to introduce me to this guy or what? Like, I get that you call him Agent A or whatever, but… that tells me literally nothing."

Agent A startled a little bit, glancing in the mirror before facing the road and starting the car, pulling out slowly, "They had warned me that your memory was spotty, but I hadn't expected it to be this bad. You really don't remember me?"

"No," Wally said sourly. Was it going to be like this with everyone? They knew that his memory was bad but not non-existent? Was everyone going to sit there and remind him that his memory was gone, and he should be remembering them but can't? Because, if so, then he was even less excited to do this.

Agent A must have picked up something in Wally's tone because his voice was measured and even when he said, "Ah, that is alright then. I am Agent A, a helper for Batman. Most know me by the name Alfred Pennyworth, however. I am the butler to Bruce Wayne, who is also known as Batman and as the legal guardian for Jason here."

"Bruce is also your boyfriend's guardian," Jason sent back.

Wally grimaced, "Wait, if my boyfriend or whatever takes the next step, does that mean you'd be my brother?"

Jason made a retching noise, "Absolutely not. I would disown my family to avoid that."

Wally rolled his eyes, "This boyfriend of mine's got to be something good if I was willing to put up with being related to you at some point in the future."

Alfred's eyes met Wally's through the rearview mirror, "You also do not remember Master Dick?"

"Nope," Wally said, trying to keep his own voice as even as Alfred's, "And I find that name to be pretty ridiculous, in case anyone was wondering. Do I make fun of him for that or is he sensitive about it? But anyways, I don't remember anyone. No boyfriend, no family, no friends."

"Except possibly a mysterious little girl," Jason teased.

Wally rolled his eyes, "Please shut up. No one actually wants to listen to you speak."

Alfred pitched in mildly, "As someone who has been missing Master Jason for many years, I can say with complete honesty that there _is_ someone who wants to listen to him speak." Before Jason could get too self-righteous, though, Alfred added, "There is also someone who wants to listen to Master Wally speak after losing him for two years and who wants to listen to Master Wyynde speak after losing _him_ for several months."

"What I'm hearing," Jason asked gleefully, "Is that you want to hear me talk the most since I've been gone the longest, right?"

Wally and Wyynde groaned at the exact same time.

DDDDDD

Dick nervously wound his fingers in and out of each other. Normally, his 'nervous tic' was to stand completely still and at attention, but this was so far beyond normal that he felt himself falling back to his childhood nervous tic. Wally was almost here. Alfred would be bringing him, Wyynde, and the mysterious other person (they'd interrogated Talia about it, but she'd just smirked at them, so there wasn't really a lot to gain from that) back to Garfield's tower where there was a prepped med bay that they could use. Dick figured that Wally would be uncomfortable being treated at the Watchtower and he was completely uncomfortable with bringing a stranger up there when they had a viable option down on Earth.

Will put a comforting hand on Dick's shoulder, "It's going to be great, Dick, really." They'd put most people in other rooms, keeping them well away from the arrivals in order to avoid crowding them. Only the people who knew them best were there. Dick and Kaldur were there for their boyfriends. Will and Jade were there to support both Will's former CI and Kaldur's boyfriend. Barry and Iris had weaseled their way in at the last second, glaring at anyone who dared to suggest they wait. Tara had followed them imperiously. Batman would come in soon to interrogate the three of them. Dick didn't like the idea of them being interrogated so soon after getting home, but their info would be fresher. He also didn't like the idea of anyone but him doing the interrogating, but he recognized that he was likely to be anything but impartial when his boyfriend came home, _finally_.

There was a _ding_ from the other room as the elevator reached their floor. Jade snickered into the silence, "What do you want to bet that all of the kids – and adults – have their ears pressed against doorways right now?"

"No bet," Will answered immediately, "That is absolutely what they are doing right now."

"Can you blame them?" Barry asked, laughing slightly. Dick felt his own lips curve upwards. He certainly couldn't blame them.

Moments later, the door opened.

It was like Dick's world had been filled with color and joy and love again. It was like a part of his soul had been scooped out and was finally being filled back in. This was it. This was what he had been waiting for. For a second, it felt like his entire life had been building up to this exact moment where he was reunited with Wally _finally_.

Kaldur was the first to move, though, racing across the room and scooping Wyynde up and off his feet, to the loud cheers of those who had come to support him. Wyynde laughed, wild and happy, swooping in for a kiss as soon as his feet were on the ground again. Kaldur complied, pulling him further in, resting their foreheads together when they had to break for breath.

Dick, of course, only noticed this tangentially. All of his focus was on the red head raising his eyebrows at the room, traditional mini-scowl in place as his eyes darted from person to person. Dick approached him slowly, heart beating a mile a minute. He knew that Wyynde had mentioned something about his memory still being off, so he didn't want to startle Wally, but… he was here. He was _here_.

Quietly, hesitantly, Dick asked, "Wally? Do you remember me?"

Wally turned to him, giving him the exact same suspicious scowl he'd worn when they'd first met. Dick felt his heart sink when no recognition flared in his eyes. Then Wally said, "Not necessarily? You are definitely familiar. Most of the people in this room are familiar. I'm going to say… Dick?"

Dick lit up, moving a few steps closer, "Yes!" He laughed, brighter than any laugh he'd given in the last two years, "Yeah, that's me. I'm… I'm your boyfriend."

Wally gave him an uncertain smile, not stepping away, but not necessarily moving closer either, "Yeah, that's what these bozos told me. You seem like the nice sort even if you have a weird name."

Will snorted, clearly trying to cover up the noise. Wally glanced over at him, squinting, "I don't know your name. Or the chick next to you."

Jade raised an eyebrow and purred menacingly, "I _dare_ you to call me a chick again."

"That's terrifying," Wally muttered. He turned slightly, looking out at the rest of the group. Barry and Iris were facing him with excited looks. Kaldur was calm when he glanced at him. Wally squinted again, "Fishboy."

Wyynde sighed, "I told you to please not call him Fishboy or me Fishman."

Kaldur laughed, putting a restraining hand on Wyynde's shoulder, "I do not mind. Wally has called me Fishboy since we were much younger. I am curious if you remember my actual name, though."

"Nope," Wally dismissed immediately, causing Will to snort again. Wally landed on the last person in the room. He focused on Tara, "You, I definitely know. You're that girl. Um… Tara? Right? I remember you. Kind of."

The stranger in the back laughed, "Looks like we found your mystery girl, Wally. Didn't realize you were creeping around little girls."

Dick froze when he heard the voice. It was familiar. It was so, so, so familiar, even more so than it had been over the phone back when Wyynde had called them. Dick swallowed, gathering his courage. Carefully, he peaked around Wally to look at the stranger. He almost dropped to his knees. His voice was shaking and unsure when he asked cautiously, "Jason?"

Jason – his _brother_, the little snot-nosed brat that Dick had come to _love_ like they were blood related – smiled crookedly at him, waving a hand, "Hey, Dick." At this point, Kaldur and Will's jaws were about on the floor, too. It took the rest of them (sans Tara who had never met nor heard of Jason) a few more seconds to figure out who it was, but they all dropped into shock the moment they realized it.

Dick moved towards him, instinctually snatching Wally's wrist and dragging him along. There was no way he was going to be more than three feet away from Wally at any point now that he got him back. Maybe that made things creepy because Wally didn't remember much about him, but Wally hadn't protested the treatment so far, so Dick wasn't going to stop. He stopped right in front of Jason, trying to resist the urge to let his mouth fall open in shock again, "You do _not_ get to _hey, Dick_ me after _years_ of being 'dead!'"

Jason's shoulders sloped up defensively, "In my defense, I only really remembered you, like, two months ago, max. Or, well, okay. When you and those kids or whatever came to Ra's al Ghul's island? I definitely recognized you then, but it was a super vague recognition."

Dick made to ask another question, but Wally had absentmindedly moved so their hands were intertwined instead of having Dick have a death grip on his arm. Wally had started slowly moving his thumb up and down over Dick's hand, just like he used to. The clearly subconscious movement made Dick's words die in his mouth and his heart stutter in his chest. Will ended up asking the question for him, "Not to sound insensitive, but you were for sure dead. Wally at least had the excuse of disappearing. But you were dead."

"Uh, yeah," Jason said, wincing a little, "Let's just say Lazarus Pit and leave it at that, yeah?"

"We are definitely not leaving it at that," Dick warned, "But for now, yeah. We'll leave it there."

Wally spoke before Jason could respond, "Hey, Tara or whatever, come over here. You've been looking at me this whole time. Might as well just come over. Did you want a hug or something? Do I normally give you hugs? How do I know you? And for that matter, I don't actually know the names of everyone in this room and I would like an introduction." He paused, frowning, before correcting himself, "A re-introduction."

Tara crept over to Wally, quietly taking his other hand and leaning her head against his side. He moved his arm over her head and around her shoulders, making sure that their hands were still connected. Dick's heart melted.

Barry jumped in first, grinning brightly even if there was clearly a part of him that was hurt by the fact that Wally didn't remember him, "I'm Barry Allen and this is my wife Iris. We're your uncle and aunt respectively."

"You're the other speedster then," Wally said, sizing him up, "The one I fight?"

"Uh," Barry blinked, "Well, kind of. It's more of a friendly competition, honest!"

"And you're the one I'm biologically related to, right?" Wally asked, addressing his question to Iris.

She smiled kindly at him, "That's me. Legally, we did sign your guardianship away to the Rogues, though, since you wanted to stay with them instead."

Wally narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, I'm not touching that situation with a ten-foot pole until some memories start coming back. How about you two?"

Jade answered for both of them, "I'm Jade, better known as the anti-hero Cheshire and this is Will, the former hero Red Arrow."

Tilting his head to the side, Wally asked, "Did you guys actually make me your kid's godfather or was Talia making that up?"

"We actually did," Jade said, voice warming up a fraction from the glacier it had been before. She had definitely gotten defensive when Wally hadn't remembered her, but the little details were helping her feel like this was really him.

"Huh," Wally said softly. He glanced around the room again. For the first time, Dick actually tracked the movements of his eyes. He was looking for exits and escape routes. Dick had dated him long enough to figure that out. Why would he want to run, though? He must know that they were here to help him and that he didn't need to run.

Or, maybe he didn't know. Dick's heart went cold when he saw what was around Wally's neck. He growled at Wyynde and Jason, "Why does he have an inhibitor collar?"

Wally's eyes snapped over to Dick, something unidentifiable in them, "Won't you please get it off? It's horrible to be in. I hate it. Please take it off."

"Absolutely do not do that," Jason said immediately, hands moving into a defensive position as if he were willing to _fight them_ over that fact.

Wyynde explained more fully, "He will run if you let him out of that collar. He knows that he is a supervillain and finds himself concerned that he is surrounded by superheroes. He thinks that he should be allowed to run off to who knows where for who knows how long to allow his memory to potentially come back naturally and _then_, if he remembers us, he promises to return."

Wally scowled at the two he returned with, "Jeez, thanks. Ruin my best shot at getting out of here. I'm fairly certain I remember being told that I was going to get to see Rogues so I wouldn't be super outnumbered. Am I just making that up or what? Where are these Rogues people? Aren't they supposed to be my family or whatever?"

Dick glanced wearily at the other members of the group, not sure how to proceed. It was Barry who spoke, taking a few steps towards Wally, "Look, we haven't told the Rogues yet. I'm sure they know some people who can do healing, but we would really like our people to look at you first to try to fix your memory and the space outs before we hand you back to the Rogues."

"Is there a reason you can't do both?" Wally asked sharply. He still hadn't let go of Dick or Tara, though, so Dick tried his best to not let the tone get to him.

Barry winced and admitted, "The second the Rogues get you, they're going to disappear. They'd probably resurface at some point to help us take down the Light, but I can't guarantee that you'd get the help you needed to fix the problems you have right now."

"You also can't guarantee that I won't. Are you keeping me from my family? Have you illegally kidnapped me?" Wally asked, scowl coming back.

Iris raised an eyebrow at him, "At this point, I'm fairly certain it's called arrest."

"Not if I haven't been read my rights and not if I haven't been arrested by a police officer or a superhero who actually has the legal ability to arrest people instead of just beating them up. Like Superman," Wally retorted. His eyebrows lowered in confusion when most of the people in the room took in a startled breath, "What?"

Dick tried to resist the urge to sniffle pitifully, "That's what you would say when the Team arrested you when you were young. Or whenever Barry would steal you from the Rogues for some family thing."

"See?" Jason said, trying to keep up his usual street-kid act, but also holding something infinitely fragile in his tone, "Your memory's kicking in already."

Wally glared at him, "We both know that Ra's said that the most likely way I'll get my memory back is if the collar comes off."

Jason scowled, "Which isn't happening until you decide to not run!"

"Screw you!" Wally growled, still glaring hotly.

Wyynde sighed from where he was cuddled up to Kaldur, "Someone else split them up this time. I just spent several months doing it and I am tired of it." Kaldur squeezed his arm reassuringly.

Before anyone could say anything, the door burst open, a figure panting in the doorway. Dick's eyebrows rose when he realized it was Bruce who had made that undignified entrance. Alfred was behind him, looking as unphased and even-keeled as usual. It wasn't until Bruce took a few, stumbling steps towards Jason, Alfred shutting the door behind them, that Dick realized what had happened. Bruce's voice was _wrecked_ when he asked, "Jason? Is that really you?"

Jason looked over at Bruce, some of the fight draining out of him, bashfulness taking its place, "Yeah, it's me, Bruce."

Bruce swallowed and tried to regain his cool by saying gruffly, "I'm glad you're back. And alive."

Jason smirked, "Did Alfred tell you that I managed to startle him and therefore won the bet?"

Dick's head whipped up, "He did not!"

Alfred raised an eyebrow at Dick, "He did."

Dick wailed dramatically, leaning on Wally for support, "I've been betrayed! By my own little brother! What is this cruel world I find myself in?"

Wally smirked, "You could always disown him. That way I don't end up with him as a brother-in-law." His words were more tempered at that point, but Dick could still identify the anger and frustration barely contained underneath. He pressed a brief, hesitant kiss to Wally's temple to try to help battle against the frustration. He felt another piece of himself slot into place when Wally relaxed under the motion.

Bruce chuckled quietly, moving to stand closer to his kids. He reached out and hesitantly ruffled Jason's hair, turning to look at the rest of the group, "I am glad that you are back at well, Wally. And you, Wyynde."

"Thanks, random dude. Wait, no. Someone definitely told me this guy's name. If he's your guardian, then… Brent? Brad? Brandon? Braddock? Nope! Bruce. Don't know why I was stuck on 'bra' names. You are Bruce," Wally said triumphantly. One of Bruce's eyes twitched, but he still nodded and attempted a smile.

Instead of responding verbally as well, though, Bruce looked at Jason and Wyynde regretfully and said, "I had hoped to give you all more time to catch up with the others, but while I am here, would you mind explaining what happened to me?"

"Of course," Wyynde said warmly, "We were all kept mostly together for the entire time we were with Ra's al Ghul, so our stories are the same. The only time we were truly separated was when one of us was taken to a punishment somewhere." Dick winced at the word 'punishment,' feeling Tara flinch from Wally's either side. Wally gave both of them a reassuring squeeze. Wyynde continued his story, "It was Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, and Jason – although, at the time, he had basically no memories from before his time in the Lazarus Pit – who took us from that beach and to their island. There, Wally and I were put in cells. We were both fitted with inhibitor collars. We managed to convince Jason to free us, but Sensei and Ubu caught us before we could escape fully. Ra's told us that he would be keeping us and training us until we could be real assets to the superheroes against some evil entity. Apparently, this entity is not the Light and is instead the entity that the Light was fighting against. Ra's al Ghul believes that the Light cannot defeat this entity if it is consistently defeated by teenaged superheroes."

Jason cut in at that point, explaining the rest, "After that, Ra's basically trained us all day. If we messed up or talked back or whatever, then Ubu or Sensei or sometimes Ra's or Talia would supervise a night-time punishment. Sometimes we got daytime ones, too, but not nearly as often. When we were in our room at night, Talia would often swing by with Damian and we'd play with him for a bit. Then we'd sleep and repeat. After about two months, though, Ra's said that the time was drawing too near or whatever and that he needed to release us now to the superheroes. We had a couple more days of training and then he was going to use a boat to take us back to you guys somehow. Wally kept insulting him and stuff, though, and we couldn't get him to stop. I'm not super sure what happened after that."

Wally jumped in at that point, "I don't know anything about me or where I was in those two years that I was 'presumed dead' but I think I was in an inhibitor collar for a lot of it. That's the impression I get. And that made me really, really angry. And then them keeping me in an inhibitor collar made me really, really angry. And I could feel that anger physically pushing against the inhibitor collar, so I made sure to make them make me extra angry. It was them putting in a gag that finally got me. I got angry enough and I just – overloaded the inhibitor collar. Burned it right out. Then I phased out of my cuffs, tied up Ra's al Ghul and the others, phased Wyynde and Jason out of their cuffs, grabbed Damian and the baby supplies, and got ready to go. I ended up sparing Talia since I figure she should at least get a chance of sticking with her baby. Until the dad can be found, maybe."

Barry was gaping at Wally, "You did _what_? You _overloaded the inhibitor collar_? That's unheard of! Completely revolutionary! Also! When you died, you definitely were not fast enough to phase through things. Whatever happened to you gave you a major boost in speed!"

"I suppose you would know," Wally said mildly, evidently not as impressed as everyone else in the room was. Dick didn't even know how to handle the information. First and foremost, Wally hated the inhibitor collars enough that his anger at them actually overloaded one and he was still stuck in one. That broke Dick's heart, but he understood why it needed to be kept on. Or, well… maybe. There was an idea forming in the back of his mind, but he'd let it form for a while. Secondly, Wally had to be significantly faster than he had been before. Sure, both Barry and Bart could phase through objects, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Wally could actually be the fastest speedster at this point. If that was the case, then Central City was in for quite the crime spree once Wally got his memories back and figured out what he was doing with his life.

Bruce nodded, frowning as ideas probably spun in and out of his head, "We'll have to get a DNA test on the kid. We could ask Talia as well, although I doubt she'll answer. After that, we need where you all will be safe."

Jason scowled, "No way. I'm helping with this. I'm not just going to stand by while this weird entity tries to destroy Earth or something! Unless working with whatever team is on that is your 'safe place,' then I'm not going."

Wyynde nodded in agreement, "I would also like to work with you all on this. I know that I was separated from the information stream earlier on in the investigation due to my responsibilities to my King, but I am certain that he would give me permission to work on this for a time period instead."

Bruce grit his teeth, "Fine. But you do not go anywhere without other team members with you. There are several groups working on this project and you can associate yourself with whichever one you like. Except you, Wally."

"What?" Wally yelped, "Why not? Why am I getting special treatment?"

"You are a criminal," Bruce said, "Which I had assumed meant that you would not want to work with superheroes. Additionally, your memory is nonexistent, and you are still experiencing space outs, correct? We need to find a way to treat that before I can trust you on any sort of team."

Wally scowled, "The answer is still easy: take the inhibitor collar off."

Jason threw his hands in the air, "Not happening! Why can't you deal with that?"

"Wait," Dick said, his former idea finally taking shape, "Wait, yes you can." Wally looked over at him with wide-eyed hope. Dick smiled softly at him, "If we keep him in the Watchtower, then even if we take off the inhibitor collar, he can't run away."

"I am definitely in favor of anything that involves getting this collar off, but why can't I get away?" Wally asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Will laughed, "That's because the Watchtower is in space. You're not running out of there."

"There's still the matter of all of the confidential material on the Watchtower," Bruce protested.

Barry shrugged, sending Wally an apologetic look, "Not if we keep him to the prison cells. I think, last time I was up there, I saw that there was only one person in there at the moment, right? Wally won't be able to get past the security even with superspeed. Probably. So, he could just run around there."

Bruce's expression darkened, "The last time we tried to bring Wally to the cells in the Watchtower, he escaped within fifteen minutes."

"Did I really?" Wally asked delightedly, "That sounds exciting."

"I'm really not surprised," Jason muttered in an undertone to Wyynde who rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"Yeah," Barry agreed, "But we've got stuff in place to counteract that now. Besides, once his memories start coming back, he'll understand why he's there. We might not even need to keep him there if his memories start coming back. In the meantime, we'll interview him, see how things feel, so on, so forth. We'll see if we can figure out what these space outs were."

"Conveniently enough," Dick mused, "One of the people who experimented on Wally but actually came to like and somewhat befriend Wally is in those cells right now. You could talk to both of them at once."

"I'm going to be sharing a prison block with someone who experimented on me? Do I really like this person?" Wally asked cautiously. There was something like a deep-seated terror on his face, a shiver running up and down his arms. At first, Dick couldn't figure out what was wrong. He winced when he realized that it was very likely that no one had told him that he'd been experimented on before. Wyynde hadn't known and Jason probably wouldn't have felt comfortable telling Wally about his past. Not that Jason knew all that much, of course.

Tara finally spoke up, still pressed against Wally's side, "You told me that you liked this person. His name's Ben and he was apparently nice."

Wally looked down at her, "Were you being experimented on, too?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Okay," Wally said once it was clear that she wasn't going to say anything else, "I guess that's that, then. I'm going to be locked in a prison block without an inhibitor collar. I can deal with that. I don't suppose anyone would be willing to tell me how I escaped last time, huh?"

Dick laughed, elbowing Wally gently, but good-naturedly. Wally jostled him lightly back. It wasn't quite the same as having his Wally back, but it was close enough and it was still beautiful. Even if this Wally didn't remember him – even if this Wally _never_ remembered him, - this Wally still cared about Dick and remembered enough of their little motions and phrases to fit back in seamlessly enough. If that was all Dick could get, then that was enough.

But that didn't bear thinking about. Not when there was a plan set in place and the high possibility of Wally recovering. Not when Dick had finally gotten the love of his life back. Things were finally looking up.

LLLLLL

Luthor looked up, eyebrows raised in recrimination, when a scientist burst into the room. It was one of the ones who had been set to research Wally. Luthor wasn't entirely certain what they were doing now, other than the little side-project he had assigned them to. Certainly there was nothing that could warrant bursting into his temporary office in the Moroccan branch like this.

The scientist didn't even wait for Luthor's permission before speaking, sending her careening down even further in Luthor's favor. At least, that's how he felt until she really got into her explanation, "I was analyzing Kid Flash's hair sample like you asked. I like to compare my research to control samples, so I wanted to compare his sample to that of a regular human, that of a non-speedster metahuman, and that of a speedster. The only speedster hair we had on hand was that of Tachyon's. I compared their hair samples and, well, _look_. I believe I may have found the reason behind Tachyon's space outs."

Luthor's eyebrows rose comically higher as he grabbed the papers from the scientist and started to read. His mouth practically fell open when he got to her final conclusions. This level of detail and understanding of speedster lore meant that this woman had been researching speedsters on her own for a while now. It must have been a stroke of fate that she had been placed on the Tachyon research team. Maybe she had angled for it.

Either way, after what she had just discovered… Luthor looked over to Mercy, lips pulling back to show his fiercest shark's smile, "We are _going_ to get him back."


	21. Chapter 21

WWWWWW

Wally grabbed his food mulishly, flying across the prison space so he could sit outside Ben's cell. Ben had already been given his food and was eating away at it. Wally envied his calm a little bit. Wally himself certainly wasn't very calm. He was going _stir crazy_. Sure, the inhibitor collar was off which was he intensely grateful for, especially when people told him about the last year and a half or so that he'd been wearing an inhibitor collar. That didn't make this tiny little prison block with only one other person in it any more interesting, unfortunately.

What made it even worse was that his memories were coming back in fits and spurts. And, sure, that would normally sound like a good thing. It wasn't a good thing in this case. His memories were coming back mostly chronologically with a hint of trigger-based memories, but that didn't help him very much. From what he got so far, his early years of life _sucked_. He felt like he was just waiting for the next nightmare to strike. He really, really wanted to get to the part of his life that he actually enjoyed. He hadn't been expecting it to be this long in coming. Maybe he really did have a reason to be a villain, yikes.

Ben glanced up, jumping when he saw Wally on the other side of his clear door, "Hey, man! You scared me!"

Wally smirked, "I was trying to do that."

Ben rolled his eyes, "Absolutely not. You just wanted a friend and happened to scare me in the process. Don't worry, it's not your fault you're so bad at making friends."

"Apparently I made friends with you while you were experimenting on me," Wally commented dryly, "Those are skills."

Ben winced, laughing awkwardly, "Please don't bring that up. I already feel awful enough for it. And I've been arrested for it."

"As someone who's been experimented on, I think I get permission to bring that up whenever I want to," Wally pointed out.

Ben winced again, "Well, yes, but… please don't."

Wally laughed, "Yeah, sure, whatever." The two sat in silence for a moment, working their way through their food. Wally groaned and threw his head back, "I can't even make small talk because I'm stuck in this stupid prison block where _nothing happens,_ and I don't have enough memories to _reminisce _about or something. This is stupid!"

Laughing nervously again, Ben said, "I mean, you seem to have a pretty good grasp on science when we talk about it. We can small talk science if you want."

"No, no, it's fine. It's whatever," Wally said. He sped through the rest of his food before standing up, pacing up and down the hallway slightly. He was _so_ bored. He was also starting to get mad. The heroes had said that now that he was imprisoned, he could get supervised visits with the Rogues.

He hadn't. He'd been there for almost a week and he hadn't gotten any visit from the Rogues. Not even a sign of interest or something. He'd barely even gotten a chance to see the people he actually knew. No one would answer any of his questions. Most of the time, he only saw Ben and Dick when he would come visit in the evenings. And, sure, Dick was super cute and funny and nice and Wally could _definitely_ see himself falling for him, but Wally had also spent the last two months stuck in a room with Wyynde and Jason and he'd like confirmation that they were alive or something. Plus, he wanted to see Tara again. She felt like a little sister to him even though his memories were making it seem like he was an only child.

But he wasn't allowed to see anyone he asked for. Especially the Rogues. Did they not want to see him or were the heroes blocking his access? Wally didn't remember the Rogues yet, but he was hoping that they would at least care about him enough to come check on him, even if they did trust the heroes to help Wally heal. But if they did care, then why weren't they visiting? What would the heroes possibly get out of stopping him from seeing the people who are supposed to be his family?

Wally narrowed his eyes. Maybe they did have a reason. They'd put him in a prison block, and he'd agreed because it was one step up from the inhibitor collar. He'd willingly let them put him in prison. Was this their way of arresting him? Had they just manipulated him into situation? Had he just allowed it?

No, that was stupid. Well, potentially. It didn't make sense for them to let Dick in there to see him if they really wanted him arrested. Sure, Wally believed that Dick genuinely cared about him (just like he believed the part of him that longed to remember their history together, longed to remember every moment, every embrace), but that didn't mean anything. From what he'd heard about him from Jason, Wyynde, and Dick, it sounded like Batman was the kind of guy who would definitely stop anyone from seeing Wally if he felt like it.

Was it… was it possible that they were trying to _convert_ him? Wally certainly had enough connections in the hero world that they probably thought they had a chance. Which was crazy because they _didn't _have a chance. The more of his memories he got, the more of the heroes he met and interacted with, the less he wanted to be a hero. If they thought he was going to become a hero, they were _crazy_. That's probably why they put him with Ben – he was someone who had experimented on Wally. They were probably trying to poison him to his cell neighbor so he'd want to go with them instead.

Jokes on them because Wally and Ben actually got along!

With a huff, Wally plopped onto the floor in front of Ben. He was going to show that they got along! Except, Ben was eying him warily, "You doing okay there?"

"I'm going crazy," Wally sighed, "I'm creating conspiracy theories about the very limited amount of people I know. I'm making this situation worse than it has to be just through sheer power of paranoia."

Ben made a sympathetic noise, "That sucks, man. They should give us entertainment. TV! Dude, they should give us Netflix!"

Wally peered over at him, "Looping a TV and Netflix program into our cells sounds like a great way to hack into the rest of the system and get ourselves free."

Ben snorted, "Get yourself free. I want to be here. If I go out there, someone's going to kill me, man. That is not ideal for me."

"Have you even gotten a trial or been formally sentenced?" Wally asked, "Because this situation seems really illegal to me. Don't you find it suspicious how they only follow the laws when it seems convenient to them?"

Raising his eyebrows, Ben stared Wally down, "Why don't we flashback to just a minute or so ago when you were saying that you were driving yourself crazy through sheer force of paranoia? Take a chill pill."

"You're not allowed to tell me that," Wally grumbled, "And apparently that's a token protest from me. I evidently say something to that effect fairly regularly."

"Still working on getting your memories back?" Ben asked curiously. He'd been keeping up to date with Wally's progress, scribbling in a notebook he'd been granted permission to have.

Wally scowled, "I don't think I _want_ them back, half the time. They _suck_."

"Do you think that might be part of the problem?" Ben pointed out, "I mean, you might be subconsciously suppressing your memories since that ones you've gotten are so bad?"

Wally shrugged uncomfortably, "I mean, I've gotten some good memories, too. Nightwing and I are bonding. Re-bonding, I guess. I get flashbacks of time we've spent together. I think I might have gotten our first meeting. I'm not super sure. I think we met outside of the hero and villain stuff? I don't know. It's kind of confusing out of context. But that's nice."

"Are you getting other nice memories?" Ben asked, writing away in his notebook.

Wally sighed, flopping back onto the floor, "I mean, a couple. My childhood wasn't just abject misery. There were good moments. Not enough to make up for the rest, but whatever. I just want to skip to the part of my life where I end up happy."

"Do you know when that would be? Maybe we could purposefully trigger that and remove whatever potential block you might have on your memories," Ben said excitedly.

"And that," Wally sighed, "Brings me back to my conspiracy theories. I'm almost certain that the time I was happiest was when I was with the Rogues. If I could just see them, I'm sure I'd get all sorts of lovely triggers. But they won't let me see the Rogues. I even mentioned the possibility of, like, calling them or something, not even visiting, but I was turned down. I don't think they want the Rogues anywhere near me."

"That sucks, man," Ben offered. He looked like he was going to say something else, but he was interrupted by the sound of a crash from somewhere outside the prison block. Seconds later, there was a loud, blaring alarm.

Ben and Wally both got to their feet, glancing at the entrance and exit of the prison block. Ben laughed nervously, "They'd come get us if there was an attack on the building and they needed to escape, right?"

"They're heroes," Wally said, not noticing the dawning hope on Ben's face until he said, "I really doubt it." Ben sighed, defeated.

Wally smirked, "Don't worry, I'll get you out. We've been able to hear when some of the bigger spaceships leave this place, right? If you start to hear the bay doors opening, let me know, and I'll run us out of here and onto that ship so fast they won't know what hit them. I won't let them leave you behind."

Ben gave him a pointed look, "How heroic of you."

Wally scowled, "No need to insult me."

Ben rolled his eyes, tensing again at the sound of another large crash, "Hey, how about you go ahead and get me out of the cell right away? Just in case?" Wally rolled his eyes, but complied, leaving the two of them standing in the middle of the prison block. Ben glanced around nervously, "Who would possibly attack the Watchtower?"

Wally winced as a memory scrapped at the edge of his consciousness. There was something… he had been here, in the Watchtower. Wally murmured out loud, "The Light."

Ben sent him a panicked look, "The Light is here? The Light can't be here! They're going to kill me!"

Wally scowled at him, "No, the Light has previously attacked the Watchtower. I had a memory of that… Besides, didn't I just tell you that I was going to make sure we both got out? The lack of trust hurts."

Sending him a scathing look, Ben hissed, "I am understandably nervous about this situation. How about we just bail now? I think the heroes like both of us. They'd understand if we left the prison block for something like this." They both winced when a particularly loud explosion went off. Ben turned an imploring look onto Wally, "C'mon, man. I don't think the heroes are coming back for us."

"Typical," Wally muttered, mostly by rote. He was too busy thinking about the situation. On the one hand, it totally made sense to bail like Ben was saying. They wouldn't get in too much trouble because it was extenuating circumstances and, honestly, it would be the Justice League's fault that they felt threatened in the first place. On the other hand, though, Ben and Wally might just get in the heroes' way if they went out there. He wasn't hearing any panicked screaming or attempts to leave the base, so the heroes couldn't be losing too badly. Would Wally and Ben just be a distraction that ended up leading to the defeat of the heroes?

Before Wally could decide one way or another, the door came flying open. Wally tensed when he didn't recognize the person in front of him. He leaned over to Ben, "Is that a hero? I don't think I know that one."

Ben, however, had paled dramatically, mouth gaping open, "No, that's… that's _Deathstroke_." He made a squeaking noise when some bald guy in a suit came out after this Deathstroke person, "That's Lex Luthor!" Hm… those names did actually sound familiar. Did Wally know them? Ben seemed upset, so they were likely villains. Were they there to rescue Wally? Were they members of the Rogues? Ben slapped Wally's arm, "They're the ones who kidnapped you and experimented on you!"

Wally's head snapped up. These guys were the ones who took a year and half of his life and put him into the situation where he lost his memories in the first place? It was _their_ fault that he was like this? Wally felt rage fly through his system, igniting every nerve and sending lightning crackling over his skin, tinting his gaze with _speed_ and _energy_. Carefully, Wally reigned in his rage, focusing on escape instead. With his current memory, he had no knowledge of how these two fought or how good they were. He didn't even know if they had powers. Wally would take himself and Ben and get out of there before they could do anything. He'd let the heroes deal with cleanup.

With that thought in mind, Wally prepped himself to turn and grab Ben. His knees bent and he was just starting to grab the other prisoner when, suddenly, abruptly, his powers _disappeared_. It was like being in an inhibitor collar but ten times worse. Wally's connection to the Speed Force (to the… what? Wally didn't even know what that term meant. Why would he suddenly think about it?) cut out and he tripped slightly, so off-balance from the lack of powers that he almost nose-dived into the floor.

When he whipped his head around, he caught sight of Luthor smirking at him, a remote with a cartoonish, large red button on it. Did that… did that _shut off his powers_? How was this possible? Against his will, another memory pushed through, almost dropping Wally again. He remembered… he remembered a warehouse. He remembered Cheshire and a guy in a hockey mask and some dude made of ice. He remembered running and running and running and then _not_. He remembered dropping the ice guy, remembered being taken. Had this… happened before? What was going on?

Ben looked over at him, eyes wide, "We, uh, we going to blow this popsicle stand or what?"

"My powers aren't working," Wally said, more expressing his general disbelief than answering Ben's question.

The slow hope in Ben's eyes disappeared, shoulders slumping as he glanced desperately between Wally and the two villains. Luthor smirked. He and Deathstroke were still approaching, slow and easy. Unhurried. Their confidence made Wally feel sick. Why did they think they had so much time to do this? What was happening to the superheroes? Suspicions and villain tendencies aside, Wally didn't actually want them to be killed or something. Especially Dick. If Dick was hurt, Wally was going to _lose it_, lost powers or not. He had overridden an inhibitor collar. He could do this too.

Luthor started talking, drawing Wally's attention, "Do you like this? I kept the programming required to turn your powers off even after your supposed death. I suppose I'm sentimental like that." Wally felt sick again.

"The… what?" Wally asked, desperately trying to buy time. Maybe the heroes would come and save them. Maybe… maybe Wally could trust them to rescue him this one time.

Luthor smirked, "You still don't remember? Hm… that has _potential_. When you were younger, you submitted to be tested by my labs and we were able to apply a shut-off mechanism to your powers. Isn't that fascinating? Of course, there is more research required for _your_ particular abilities. You know, I learned the most interesting thing about you, Wally West." Wally flinched at the name. He wasn't sure if anyone had even told him his full name by that point. Luthor's smirk widened, "Are you aware that there is a roughly six-month period where your whereabouts are completely uncounted for? Many have looked, but not a single person has been able to find out where you went. Well, until now. Would you like to know where you went? I can tell you."

Wally faltered. He had wondered, of course. Even without knowing a thing about his life other than what people had told him, he had wondered. How could he not? He had been virtually invisible, so hidden that people who owned their own satellite base couldn't find him for _six months_. Why had he been gone so long? Where had he went? Was he with someone? Was there someone out there, waiting for him? Was he waiting for someone else? Where had he _been_?

But how could he trust anything that Luthor said? Of course, Wally only had the opinions of people who _weren't _Luthor to base his opinion on, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. The superheroes had plenty of proof for their claims. Luthor was a bad guy who had a weird obsession with Wally. Listening to anything he had to say was dangerous. Trusting anything he had to say was dangerous. The way Ben bunched his fist in a handful of Wally's shirt told him that more than anything.

Wally scowled at Luthor, "Yeah, not interested. Thanks for trying. Now, how about you and your buddy there go ahead and leave. Unless you wanted to find yourself a cell and go ahead and move in, of course. Ben and I already have dibs on two of them, but you're welcome to any of the rest."

The guy called Deathstroke or whatever growled at Wally, "You're coming with us, brat, whether you want to or not. You've caused too much trouble this time. Now you're going to do something for _us_."

"Jeez, you're confusing me. Are you offering me something or are you making me offer you something? Make up your minds," Wally commented with a smirk, ignoring the way Ben hissed his name from behind him. He leaned his head back and whispered, "I can't get us out of here. All I can do is stall for time."

"Do you really think that they would risk coming here and _talking_ if the heroes weren't currently occupied?" Ben whispered frantically back.

Wally frowned, "Look, I'm trying to trust the superheroes like you keep telling me to do. There's nothing we can do here, alright? We just need to stall."

"There's something else we can do," Ben whispered, but he didn't explain. Wally wanted to turn around and ask him what stupid thing he was planning, but he didn't want to risk turning his back on the approaching enemies. All he could do was face down the villains in front of him and hope that whatever Ben was planning would actually work.

"Wally," Luthor said, almost kindly, "I know that you don't like us at the moment. I would even say you have never liked us. I can't change that. I can, however, ensure that this situation turns into something that is mutually beneficial to the two of us. Wally, the place you were at during your missing six months… I can guarantee that you would rather be there than here. And even if, somehow, you disagree, at least I will have given you a choice."

"And what do you get out of it?" Wally asked, nervous at the way Ben was tensing behind him.

Luthor gave him a shark's grin, "Once I tell you where you were, I can tell you what that does for us."

"Then tell me," Wally said flatly.

Luthor sighed, "Come now, Wally. Don't insult either of our intelligences. You and I both know that the moment I tell you, I lose leverage over you. How would that make any sense?"

Wally opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Ben's furious whisper of, "You get Deathstroke!" And then Ben was pushing him forward. Ben himself rushed at Luthor.

Wally didn't give himself a moment to be shocked at the action, instead immediately springing into action, landing a double-footed kick on Deathstroke's midriff before the man even realized that Wally was attacking. Sure, Wally didn't have his speed. But he hadn't had his speed when Ra's al Ghul, Ubu, and Sensei trained him to have an assassin's skill set. Deathstroke might be good or he might not, but Wally knew that _he_ was good. Well, he had spent a little over a week just languishing around and not training and he'd started to lose some of the weight he'd put on – probably a mix of stress and the amount of times he blanked out – but that was okay. He was still somewhat of a good fighter without his speed. At the very least, he would be able to distract Deathstroke long enough for Ben's plan to come to fruition. Or for the superheroes to rescue them.

Where were the superheroes? Why were they taking so long? If Luthor and Deathstroke were the ones leading this charge, then the superheroes must have known that they were coming after either Wally or Ben. They should have sent someone to protect them. That's why there were in this prison after all. Their protection. So, the heroes should be there.

Wally swallowed down the distraction, choosing to focus back in on Deathstroke. He was a little disappointed to realize that the man was _definitely_ a better fighter than him. That was… not great. At all. But that didn't matter. All Wally had to do was distract him long enough for Ben's plan to work. That was it. He could do that.

For a while, he ducked and weaved and blocked, acting mostly on the defensive. He managed to send out a few shots of his own, but most of them were blocked. Then, finally, he managed to knee Deathstroke in the balls. Wally allowed himself a moment of celebration and then…

Deathstroke punched Wally, sending his head cracking against the wall. With another well-placed punch, Wally was down, gasping around the pain emanating from his stomach. Ow, ow, _ow_. It had been almost twenty minutes, though. The heroes hadn't come and there were still sounds of a scuffle from the other side of the hallway, indicating that Ben was still trying to do whatever he'd been trying to do.

Wally's head lolled, a concussion giving everything a watery, fluid tint. He tried to push himself to his feet, but his limbs were tired and sore, and his stomach cramped at the very thought. He could do nothing but watch as Deathstroke stalked over to where Ben and Luthor were scuffling. With a scowl, Deathstroke grabbed Ben around the neck, squeezing just enough to get him to stop struggling.

Ben and Wally made eye contact, both of them trying desperately to make their bodies work. Wally stuttered, "Ben. Ben, kick 'im in th-the balls." Ben choked at him in response as Deathstroke tightened his grip threateningly. Wally obligingly fell quiet.

Luthor straightened out his jacket, huffing irritably, "Well, that was unpleasant. We tried to convince you to come with us. Clearly we will have to _force_ you. Deathstroke, bring that one closer. Thank you. Ah, now I know where I recognized you from. You were one of my scientists, weren't you? I thought the contract said that you weren't to speak to _anyone_, especially the _Justice League_ about what you saw or heard during your employment, correct?" He waited for a moment before rolling his eyes and directing his command to Deathstroke, "Let him speak."

Ben didn't speak to Luthor, though. He turned his head and looked right at Wally when he said, "Destroy the remote and you'll get your powers back." He rushed it out so quickly that Deathstroke wasn't able to cut off his airway fast enough to stop him. Both of them glanced over to Wally in alarm. Then Luthor scowled and made a slicing motion across his neck.

Before Wally could do anything – speak, move, _blink_, - Deathstroke had snapped Ben's neck, dropping his lifeless body like it was a sack of trash.

Wally whimpered at the sight, feeling the rage race through his limbs again. They… they killed Ben. They _killed_ him. Because he was trying to help Wally. No. No, that was _not_ okay. Wally was going to _kill_ them.

Staggering to his feet, Wally forced himself to look away from Ben's body, to the _innocent_ caught in this crossfire. Taking a deep breath and swallowing, Wally forced strength into all of his limbs and _ran_.

It wasn't at superspeed. It wasn't even at a very impressive speed. It was, however, not what the two in front of him expected. He was able to tackle Luthor before either man realized that he was across the hallway. As much as Wally wanted to wring _Luthor's _neck like Deathstroke wrung Ben's, he knew that would just be wasting Ben's death. Growling, Wally grabbed Luthor's hand and broke the wrist, reveling just a little bit in the man's bit-off groan. Wally pried Luthor's fingers open and grabbed the remote.

Anger lining his every moment, Wally crushed it.

His speed came racing back into his body, embracing every cell with a sort of longing that he wasn't in the right headspace to interpret at the moment.

Despite how much he still wanted to bash Luthor and Deathstroke's faces in, Wally knew that he couldn't at the moment. He would kill them if he started and… and Wally didn't want to do that. He didn't want _their_ blood to be the blood that stained his hands. So, Wally grabbed them and phased them each into their own cells. He pressed the buttons that would send the cells into extra-secure lockdown and then he ignored them. If he didn't, he'd go in and kill them, he just knew it.

Shaking his head, Wally staggered back over to Ben. Wally fell to his knees next to the man, shaking fingers reaching out to Ben's face. His fingers hovered over the pulse point for a moment, horrified at the clear dislocation and break of the spine in Ben's neck. Steeling himself, Wally pushed his fingers into Ben's pulse point, hoping beyond hope that he would feel _anything_.

He didn't.

With a rough cry, Wally bowed his head. He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again, taking in ragged breath after ragged breath. He swallowed hard before reaching over and shutting Ben's eyes. Wally's breath caught in his throat again, coming out on the hard edge of a jagged sob.

He wasn't sure why he was even crying. He didn't know this guy that well. He didn't have some intense connection with him. Ben had _experimented_ on Wally. And yet… and yet… it was because Ben was dead _because of_ Wally. Ben had been trying to get Wally's powers back. He'd only even been in this place at the same time as Wally because he'd felt so strongly about Wally's case that he'd decided to go to the Justice League in order to help Wally get out of there. This was all Wally's fault. It was _his_ fault that this innocent man was dead.

Wally didn't know how long he cried before the door to the prison block opened. All he knew was that he was still kneeling next to Ben's body when the _superheroes_ finally showed up. Wally dragged red-rimmed eyes up to face the people who came in. Flash was the first one in, breathing hard. His eyes widened when they landed on the scene. Wally swallowed roughly and croaked, "Lex Luthor and Deathstroke are in cells back there. Ben's dead."

With the knowledge that the enemies were apprehended, the mad rush of superheroes into the hallway slowed down. They started approaching him gently, clearly unsure what to do at this point. It was Dick who spoke next, "Wally, can I see you? I know you've got your accelerated healing, but I want to make sure everything is set correctly, okay? The others will… will make sure that Ben is taken care of."

"There's nothing to take care of," Wally said, finally standing. He resisted the urge to look back down at Ben, "Because he's dead."

"I know," Dick soothed, "I am _so sorry_ that this all happened."

"You should be," Wally said harshly, ignoring the way Dick flinched, "You all should be. For the first time I remember, for the first time probably ever, I put my faith in superheroes. I _told_ Ben that you would come save us, that we would get out of here together. But you didn't come. You left us here with Luthor and Deathstroke. It's your fault he died! I should _never_ have trusted in you!"

Wally… Wally couldn't stay there. He couldn't. He – he had to get out of there. Breathing hard, Wally rushed forward, grabbing the nearest hapless bystander. He rushed with them (Green Arrow, it looked like) through the doors of the prison block, through the Watchtower. Some part of him remembered zeta beams, remembered somewhat how they worked. He threw Green Arrow at the machine, stalking forward and grabbing him again. He allowed his arm to speed up and shoved it straight through Green Arrow's shoulder, holding it there, keeping it as a threat inside Green Arrow's body. Wally growled, "Get me out. Set it up so I can leave. Or I will rip _something_ out. If you're lucky, it'll be your _heart_ and you won't hurt for too long."

A voice from behind them, causing Wally to whip his head around, "Do it, Green Arrow. He's not thinking straight right now." It was Batman. Wally bared his teeth at him. What would _Batman_ know about what Wally was thinking?

Not that it mattered. Green Arrow did whatever he needed to do to the zeta beam and then stepped slightly back, wincing as the movement surprised Wally and caused his hand to slow down the slightest bit. Wally kept it up, leaning towards the zeta beam and looking at how it was configured, trying to see if he could ensure it would actually let him through. Then, before anyone else could do anything, he stepped through, disappearing in a bolt of light.

Wally didn't know where he came out. He just knew that he needed to be somewhere else. There was no way they couldn't track that. He needed to get out of this city and go somewhere else.

As for where that somewhere else was? Wally thought back to what he and Ben had been discussing (he ignored the burst of pain and guilt at the thought). The Rogues. Wally needed to see the Rogues to get the rest of his memories back.

And once he did? He was going to raze whoever had taken him and worked with Luthor and Deathstroke to the ground. He was done being used. He was doing fighting with these people. He was done being people's amusement, their little _toy_.

Luthor and everyone associated with the man were going to regret the day they laid eyes on Wally West.


	22. Chapter 22

WWWWWW

Wally realized fairly quickly that he didn't actually know where to go. His memories of the Rogues hadn't come back at that point, so he didn't know where their bases were, and he didn't want to run around Central City yelling for the Rogues. There was a chance that would have actually attracted them, but it would have definitely attracted the League and that was the last thing Wally wanted.

That left him running around the rest of the world to find somewhere to hole up until he could remember where the Rogues were. Maybe he could try triggering something? The only problem was that he didn't remember anything about the Rogues to be able to purposefully trigger memories of them. Scowling, Wally quickly pickpocketed about a dozen people before launching himself over to the next city. He came to a stop in an alleyway, walking out peacefully, like he'd been there all along. Germany wasn't too bad of a spot to stop. Thinking quickly, Wally wandered over to the nearest charity shop. He bought himself a weather appropriate outfit and changed into it in a bathroom in a nearby pub.

Glancing around the street, Wally's relaxed when he saw what appeared to be an internet café. He wondered idly when he learned German. Did he know other languages? He'd surprised himself and Talia by responding in Arabic once while al Ghul had him and Dick had confided that Wally had taught himself Romani as a romantic gesture towards Dick. So, there was two more languages. It stood to reason that he knew more than that. It would make sense, too, for a speedster to know a lot of languages. He wondered if Flash knew other languages. Or… there were other speedsters, right? Wally was pretty sure someone had told him that. Or maybe he was just remembering it. It was hard now to remember what other people told him he knew versus what he was actually remembering.

Sighing, Wally shook his head and slunk into the internet café. It was risky being somewhere so high profile, but he'd have to do what he had to do. Going to Central City without having a game plan was a no-go, so maybe he could trigger something by looking up the Rogues online. He didn't even know who the Rogues were made up of. All he needed was an address. Even if the Rogues weren't there, just being in the base should trigger anything else he needed. Hopefully. At this point, though, there really wasn't anything else Wally could do.

Mind set, Wally payed for a few hours of computer time, ordered himself some food, and got to work.

DDDDDD

Kara was devastated. Ben had apparently been one of her best friends before Cat Grant fired him and they drifted apart. When he'd come back, she'd been understandably upset about what he'd done, but she was proud of him for standing up against the villains and turning himself in. They had started to rekindle that friendship. Kara had taken to hanging out with Ben whenever Dick was in there with Wally. She might have gone and visited other times, too, but Dick wasn't sure.

Either way, Ben's death was hitting her hard. Dick wanted to be as torn up about it as she was, too. Ben had given them a lot of good information and he had been very brave when he admitted to his crimes and allowed himself to be arrested. The tapes of the fight showed that he'd been trying to help them both escape when he'd died, that he'd told Wally how to defeat the others. Plus, Dick knew that Wally was starting to be friends with Ben, too. So, Dick wanted to be upset about it. He wanted to let his grief for Ben's loss cloud over him. But he couldn't. Because Wally was gone _again_. This time, at least, he was on his own, not kidnapped by someone or another. That hardly mattered, though. He was gone and he was hurting, and he was alone, and he'd looked at Dick with such _contempt_ before he left.

The vicious, _hurt_ look on Wally's face when he'd told the heroes that he'd finally trusted them, and they hadn't delivered had broken Dick's heart. He could hope and pray that once this was all over and Wally got his memories back, he wouldn't feel like that anymore, but he knew that Wally was always going to have _that_ memory. He was going to remember trusting in the heroes and waiting for them to come save him and he was going to remember them not coming until it was too late. Until he had already saved himself.

Barry's voice startled Dick out of his reverie, "Hey there. How are you holding up?"

"Have the Rogues seen him?" Dick rasped. He didn't bother answering Barry's question. They both knew the answer to that.

Barry winced as he levered himself to sit next to Dick, "The Rogues won't even pick up the phone for me, kid. We should have let them see him."

Dick grimaced, "We both know that he would have been gone in a heartbeat if we let the Rogues see him. They would have taken him and then who knows if he'd ever stop the space outs or get his memories back. We couldn't risk it."

Barry sighed, glancing to the side the way he always did when he was gearing himself up to say something unpleasant, "Was it that _we_ couldn't risk it, or was it that _you_ couldn't risk it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dick asked flatly.

Barry frowned, "Dick, I know you love him. I know I wouldn't be acting any different if this was Iris we were talking about, but… you have to know that the Rogues would have let us see him. As frustrated as they are with this whole experience and as much as they want Wally back, they know we have all this research and that we could have helped. They want Wally to be better as much as the rest of us and they would have swallowed their pride to get it done. I _know_ you know this after spending five years dating one of their kids. So, my question is, are you sure you weren't just scared to let him out of your sight?"

Dick scowled, "Of course, I'm scared to let him out of my sight, Barry. Of course. It's been over two years since I was able to be with him! I thought he was _dead_. But I'm not, like, being _obsessive_ over it or anything. It wasn't like I spent every spare moment up here with him. I just…" He trailed off, not entirely certain at that point where he had been going.

Barry put a hand on Dick's shoulder, "Wally is a speedster. He's a speedster _and_ a free spirit besides. Rules and regulations and structure just make him antsy. What you were doing with him? For him, that probably was as bad as if you had literally not let him out of your sight. You were restricting the people he could see 'for his protection.' He was sleeping in a jail cell." Barry paused as Dick's head sunk down, starting to see the past week or so in a different light. He squeezed Dick's shoulder before smiling down at him and saying, "I won't stop looking but… if you truly love something, let it go. If it returns, then it was yours. Wally will be back, okay?"

"Okay," Dick whispered even as Barry walked away. Barry was right. Dick and Wally had five years of relationship together to back up their trust. Wally had been about to _propose_ to Dick. Two years of torture and a bout of amnesia weren't going to change that. Dick had thought he was determined to not let that change anything, but then he'd been the one to change. He _knew_ Wally didn't like to be overtly protected and coddled like this. He knew that Wally liked it better when they protected each other at the same time, when he was included in all the decisions and rationale. This must have been his worst nightmare.

Dick should have called in the Rogues. That was all there was to it. He should have let Wally see his family and stopped being so – so _paranoid_ and obsessive about safety. He needed to stop emulating Batman.

Sighing, Dick scrubbed a hand over his face. He took a deep breath before pulling out his phone. Hesitantly, he scrolled through his contacts until he saw who he was looking for. Barry had said that the Rogues wouldn't answer the phone for him, but maybe he was just calling the wrong Rogue. Screwing up his courage, Dick clicked on the contact labeled 'James Jesse.'

WWWWWW

Wally was reaching the end of his rope waiting for a flashback that was more substantial than a teenager in a dog bed or a man in a giant, walk-in freezer when he finally struck something. It wasn't a flashback. It was much, much weirder than that. His eyebrows rose when he opened a new tab to look up the Rogues of Central City and found out that they were… currently attacking Central City. Loudly. Creatively. Wally was fairly certain he saw several glitter bombs.

Leaning closer to the screen, Wally read through the blog report. The person writing the article was clearly just as confused as Wally was about what was happening. Apparently, a full-scale, full-team Rogue attack hadn't been mounted since Momentum died. That was… kind of sweet and kind of depressing. Wally hoped he didn't screw up their lives too much with his 'death.' But the most confusing part of the whole mess, according to the blogger, was that the Rogues didn't seem to have any set goals. Normally, apparently, if there was a full-team attack, they were trying to take over the city or topple a new hero or destroy some sort of monument at one point. No matter what they were doing, though, they always made sure that the city knew what they were doing and why. But not this time. This was just semi-organized chaos.

Was… was this a sign? Was this aimed at Wally? He wasn't sure how they would know he had escaped, but if this wasn't a response to his escape, then it just coincidentally happened only an hour and a half after his escape which made it pretty suspect to him.

If this was aimed at him, though, how could he read it? What was he supposed to be looking at? How was he supposed to recognize a sign if he didn't remember the Rogues at all? Wally frowned and started clicking through articles and videos, hoping one of them would include some detail that would jog his memory. It didn't seem to be working. Frowning deeper, Wally squinted at the screen. They were literally spread all over Central, causing mayhem in every corner of town!

Well, maybe not every corner. Quickly, Wally pulled up a map of Central City, opening up a pen app. He drew marks over every portion of the city where an attack was currently happening. There was a very specific, four block square that was free of any of the chaos. No glitter bombs, no hordes of people being forced to dance, no living mirrors, no storms, no explosions, no ice, no fire. Was that a sign? Was he supposed to go somewhere in that area?

If he was, then who was to say that the heroes couldn't get there just as quick? Wally bit his lip; would he risk it? He could run if there were any other hero but the Flash. If the Flash was there, then Wally was screwed. He had no idea how fast the Flash was or how fast he was in comparison. If Flash was kept busy by the other Rogues and a different hero was there, though, then Wally would be free and clear.

So, would he go to that square of houses and see if something jogged his memory or would he stay in the internet café in Germany, where he was safe for the moment?

Licking his lips, Wally sighed, chugged the rest of his drink, and ran.

He came skidding to a stop moments later, letting out a wild laugh as he did so. Other than his mad dash to Germany from wherever the zeta beam had let him out, he'd never run like _that_ before. Well, that he remembered, of course. He was certain that he'd done it plenty of times, which – incredible. That was incredible. Wally could hardly _imagine_ a life where he could run like that whenever he wanted to. When continents disappeared with a few pounding heartbeats. He was the wind. He was the lightning. It was – incredible.

Trying to wipe what was surely a stupid grin off his face, Wally glanced around him. The street didn't look familiar. Literally nothing around him looked familiar. It didn't even look like a residential area or a warehouse district which is where he had imagined the Rogues would lead him. Maybe they really did just miss this spot when they were blanketing the town. Just to make sure, Wally ambled down the streets, trying to look like any other twenty-something year old man. This was some sort of downtown center. The streets seemed a little rougher even though he could clearly spot a museum and a bank just a couple streets over. There was trash lining the alleyways and graffiti spilling out onto the streets.

Wally narrowed his eyes and backtracked a little, looking down the last alley. That was an enormous mirror. It looked shiny and bright, too, like someone had come by to clean the glass recently. They clearly had left the rest of the mirror to rot, though. The frame was barely holding it upright at that point. Something about it seemed familiar, though. If Wally thought hard enough, he could almost remember falling asleep to his own reflection staring at him through that mirror. But… Wally didn't remember ever living on the streets. Why would he be falling asleep in this alleyway?

When Wally was within arm's-reach of the mirror, he stopped, staring it up and down. His lips curled downwards at himself. He had clearly lost some pounds, bone straining against muscle straining against skin. His clothes and hair were windblown and scattered, his long hair helplessly knotted behind him. Frowning, he reached back and pulled at his hair. He didn't really like it this long. He'd much prefer it to be shorter.

He didn't get a chance to think about it for much longer because then, inexplicably, there was a hand reaching through the mirror towards him. He was so surprised that he didn't even fight when the arm yanked and pulled him right through the mirror.

Wally is a little ashamed to admit that, even after all his research about the Rogues and the fact that he definitely knew that they had Mirror Master on their team, he came out of the Mirror Dimension swinging. There was a curse and a shriek and then Wally's arm was smashing into something hard and _cold_.

Wally reared back, finally taking a moment to glance around him and figure out what was going on. He realized that he had just punched someone who looked like they were made of ice – Icicle Jr., then. He would feel bad for that at some point. At the moment, though, adrenalin was rushing through his body as he tried to calm down from the fear of being grabbed and the feeling of being led quickly through the Mirror Dimension. He had to resist the urge to puke everything from the café back up.

As his breathing slowed down again, Wally realized that there was a large group of people staring at him. A quick count told him that this was the entirety of the Rogues. How did they all get there so fast? Had they already started back to this place before Wally had been pulled through the mirror?

Awkwardly, Wally could do nothing but stand there and stare back. He knew that he should know these people, but he didn't know them. If that made sense. He wasn't getting any immediate pings in his memory. He had no idea what to say. He really, really wished that one of them would speak first.

When they didn't, and just continued to stare at Wally like he was a ghost that crashed their party (even though they were the ones who essentially kidnapped him, thank you very much), Wally cleared his throat and turned to Icicle Jr., "Hey, uh, sorry about punching you. You guys caught me off-guard a little bit."

That seemed to be the key to getting everyone to stop staring at him because most of the group sagged in relief, some laughing joyously. The one that Wally was pretty sure was called Captain Cold moved forward, drawing his goggles up and his parka hood off, "Wally. It's good to see you again."

Wally raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, sounds like it. That was the most deadpan 'welcome back' I think I have ever heard."

Icicle Jr. snorted, quickly covering his mouth and nose with his hand when Captain Cold glared at him. Captain Cold huffed out a sigh before turning back to Wally, eyes marginally softer, "Sorry about that. We are genuinely happy to see you again. I didn't think we were going to be able to once the heroes took you. Don't know why I thought they would actually let us see you, but I did, and I was wrong."

Wally's expression darkened at the mention of the heroes, "Yeah, well, that's what you get for trusting heroes."

Pied Piper snorted from the corner of the room, clearly wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, "That's awfully dramatic. Still don't have your memories back?"

Wally scowled, "Not all of them, no. I don't even really know who you all are. I mean, I looked you up, hoping to trigger memories, but I didn't get anything useful."

"You don't remember us?" Trickster asked, staring up at Wally with a wobbly lip and teary eyes.

Wally felt a part of himself melt at the sight. He offered Trickster a small smile, "I remember seeing you in regular, uh, regular-ish clothes sitting in a dog bed. If that helps?" Trickster gave him a bright grin and glomped him, nearly breaking Wally's ribs with the pressure. For a moment, Wally stood there, shoulders tense, eyes wide, arms lifted out and away from his body. It wasn't until he saw Heatwave about to take Trickster away that he melted into the hug, pulling Trickster closer and wrapping his own arms around the man.

Something inside him clicked at the action. It didn't trigger an avalanche of memories or anything, but it sent out a wave of love and affection and _safety_ that Wally could only attribute to having his family around him. He didn't remember this family yet. He only remembered his birth parents. But he could tell, immediately, intimately, that this was what a family was supposed to feel like. That this was where his family was. He buried himself deeper in the hug.

Wally finally pulled back when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He was embarrassed to realize that there were tears in his eyes. He didn't even _know_ these people, how were they making him feel like this? Dick and the others had made him feel definite other things, but the Rogues felt like – like what Wally imagined home would feel like. How could the heroes have kept him away from this if they wanted him to feel better?

He glanced around the room. Everyone was looking at him unashamedly. Some even had tears running down their faced. Wally clearly meant a lot to these people. It was obvious they had mourned him. He felt a sense of belonging in the way they gathered around him, smiling stretching their faces and joy lining every inch of their bodies. He didn't know these people, not anymore. But he didn't really think that he needed to know them to be able to feel how much they clearly loved him.

Sniffing once to tamp down on any more threatening tears, Wally blinked at the rest of the room, "So, uh, I don't know any of your names and I don't know where we are. Or what we're doing. I came here hoping to trigger the rest of my memories while avoiding the superheroes. So, not really sure where to go from here."

Captain Cold narrowed his eyes (which was more than slightly terrifying) before introducing the group, going one by one and making sure that Wally had the names down before he moved on. It was – nice. Once he'd gone around the group, Cold, well, Len, asked, "What did the superheroes do to upset you? How long did they even have you? Dick didn't explain anything. He just said that you ran and that you were probably looking for us based on your conversations with someone else."

Wally scowled, "They had me for a little over a week. As for what they did… doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'm _not_ going back, and they now have Lex Luthor and Deathstroke in their little space prison."

Digger's eyebrows rose, "Looks like we missed quite a bit, there. Well, ankle biter, what do you want to do? We'll do whatever we need ta job them memories back. You just tell us what you think'll work."

Sighing, Wally scratched the back of his neck, "It's actions and conversations that seem to jog my memory the most. I'm getting a good chunk of my childhood back while I'm sleeping or dozing or whatever, but Ben guessed that since my childhood was so trash, I'm subconsciously repressing the rest of the memories, so I wanted to come here where I figure the memories are better and see if some good ones trigger the rest."

"Hm," Mick grunted, "I'll make your favorite food for dinner." He walked away before Wally could even ask what his favorite food was. He was feeling ice cream, but that didn't sound like something that could be made for dinner. Maybe some sort of pasta? Wally would eat literally anything as far as he knew.

Mark smiled, "We can get out of our suits and into our civvies, see if that helps. We can get you some of your own clothes, too. We never touched any of your stuff – never had the heart to. It should still fit. Well, actually, it might be a bit too big. You've lost a lot of weight."

"I'll get it back on!" came a shout from the kitchen. Wally eyed the area warily.

Hartley clapped his hands together, "The picture book! I was into scrapbooking for a little bit and I made one of all of us. I can grab that for after dinner. Or during dinner, depending on how chaotic you want it to be."

"Would it be more or less chaotic to look through the picture book during dinner?" Wally asked.

Hartley faltered, "I'm… not actually certain."

"Right," Wally said, feeling a little overwhelmed, "Let's go with after, then."

Sam, with his hand still clasped onto Wally's shoulder, said softly, "I can give you a tour around the place, make sure you know where everything is."

Hesitantly, Cameron offered, "I can grab his heist book, too. That's basically a diary for us. If anything will help him remember, it's that."

"The rest of us," Len said pointedly, "Will spend the time until dinner throwing off Flasher's scent. I don't think the heroes are going to seriously chase after us, but I need to make sure that the Flash doesn't go about making trouble. C'mon James. C'mon Digger."

"I don't want to _leave_," James wailed, sinking into a crouch and clutching onto Wally's leg. Instead of feeling alarmed, Wally just felt an overwhelming sense of fondness.

He glanced back up at Len, "Aw, can't you just let him be? He missed me." He sent a cheeky grin, the action more reflex than intentional. It made everyone in the room still stop, though, staring at him with a shadowed sort of wonder. Wally shrunk back into himself a little. He couldn't quite figure out what he felt when he saw them all staring at him like that. It was the same with Dick, when he'd go silent and look Wally over with a quiet awe. Wally _knew_ that he'd essentially come back from the dead. But he didn't really know these people and he didn't _feel_ like he'd been gone from _anything_ for any amount of time. It was disquieting.

Len seemed to pick up on that faster than anyone Wally had met so far. His wondering look faded quickly into the bland dispassion he'd been wearing the whole time. He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and said, "Fine. Keep him. Digger and I will handle this." And then he was gone, flinging his parka hood back over his head and sweeping out the door, Digger scrambling after him.

Wally frowned at Len's retreating back, "He's kind of dramatic, isn't he?"

Sam snorted, "I think 'kind of' is an understatement. He's very dramatic. Don't let him catch you saying that. It hurts his sensibilities." Sam patted Wally once more on the shoulder before starting the trek around the house, explaining various things as he went. It was, apparently, the very first safe house that Wally had ever gone to and one where they spent a good portion of their time. He glanced over things curiously and kept half his mind focused on whatever Sam was saying.

With the other half, he mused on the situation he found himself in. He felt like he'd been ping-ponged from person to person to person for the past couple months. This felt like the end of the line, though. It felt like he'd finally found a place he could stay, like there would be no more people he'd have to just put his trust into because he didn't know anyone else. That was a good feeling.

On the other hand, though, Wally felt the open, slightly trustful part of himself closing off. There was a lot of stuff going on here. A lot of movement, a lot of people. He hadn't been prepared for something so chaotic yet organized. This felt like a delicate jenga tower and he was the piece that would bring it crashing down. Maybe he had his rightful place two years ago, but not anymore. He wasn't the same person. They'd had two years to build around him, to live a life with the full expectation that he wouldn't be in it anymore. Did he really have a place in something like that?

Sam's voice jerked him out of his thoughts when the man suddenly switched topics, "Don't feel like you have to act around us, okay, kid?"

"What do you mean?" Wally asked cautiously.

Sam gave him a sad little smile, "We know that you don't have your memories back and that you'll have two years of life without us once they do come back. We understand that. Don't feel like you have to act a certain way or fit into any sort of role. We're going to do our best to not pigeon-hole you into the spot you used to have in the team we used to be. We're not the same people we were when you – left. You're not the same person. But we're family, so we'll still work together. Besides, you're not the only one recently back. Cameron left the team shortly after you died because he thought it was us getting buddy-buddy with the superheroes that let you die. We only just got him back on the team. He's trying to fit himself back in, too. And, well, I left the team, too. Not the same way Cam did. I didn't physically leave and find a new team. I just – wasn't here, emotionally or whatever. I wasn't here for the kids while they were grieving. I wasn't here for the men I consider to be my brothers. I went to a dark place. I'm only recently back from that, too. None of us are expecting anyone to be who they used to be. I'm not saying that we won't accidentally have expectations of people, but just yell at us if we do, okay?"

Wally searched his face, trying to understand. Cameron had left and Sam had grieved that much because of Wally? He was… he was _that_ important to these people? People had kept alluding to Dick's decline and year of driving himself to the bone and isolating himself because of Wally's death. How did that happen? Why would they care so much? He was just Wally. That was it. What special thing had he done in the past to get people to feel so much for him? From what little bit he remembered of his childhood, he couldn't see himself ever doing something special enough to trick this many people into caring so much.

Sam smiled again, a little more genuine, "Don't know if you know it, but you're glaring at me."

Abruptly, Wally colored, turning his face away to futilely hide the blush. He scowled down at the floor and muttered, "I was just thinking. It wasn't at you."

"Sure, kid," Sam snorted.

Wally rolled his eyes, "I'm not a kid."

That had Sam briefly doing the awed-wonder-eyes at Wally before the man seemingly caught himself and coughed slightly. He gestured lamely down the corridor, "You ready to see your bedroom?"

Wally glanced down at the room that would probably hold the most triggers. He took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready."

LLLLLL

Len could barely contain his fury long enough to get out of the house. In a way, he was glad that James had ended up staying because Len certainly didn't want him to see this. Len growled and kicked a nearby wall, ignoring the pain that shot up his foot. Digger just raised an eyebrow as Len cursed and kicked another wall. Eventually, Digger said, "That doesn't look like someone who just got one of his sons back from the dead."

Len snarled, "They had him for a _week_, Digger. I knew Dick was being secretive about this whole mess because he can't help his Bat paranoia, but this is a whole new level. And now they've sent him right back to the beginning. I'm not saying that Wally hasn't always been suspicious and a little jaded. Of course he has. I _am_ saying that he was a lot more mellow about it as he grew! Now he's back to the start! Maybe getting his memories back will help, but it's _clear_ the _superheroes_ screwed something up!"

"What are ya going to do about it?" Digger asked, being surprisingly calm and level-headed for the moment. Maybe he was in shock.

Len took a deep breath, pushing his hair back under his parka, "I'm going to have a _word_ with Flash and Nightwing. They're not going to like it, either." Digger just smirked in response. Len snarled at him, "_What_?"

Digger shrugged, "Nothing. I just think it's cute that you still want to make sure that Wally's uncle and boyfriend know that he's safe."

"I will _hurt_ you," Len promised. Digger just smirked again. Len was starting to wish that Digger had asked to stay back in the house, too. Taking a deep breath to calm back down, Len sighed, "Call Flash. Tell him to meet at our usual meeting place. I'll bring the car around."

He forced himself to cool off as he went and grabbed the garage, bringing it out to the front where Digger was finishing off a phone call. Despite how he was reacting, he was thrilled that Wally was home. It was… it was everything he could have asked for, even if it was late in coming. Cameron was home. Sam was sober. Everyone was out of jail for the moment. It was the perfect homecoming. Well, Wally having his memories might have been preferable, but Len would take what he got. If this was all he could get, then that was all he could get. And he would be thankful for it.

Len was calm and collected by the time he and Digger made it to the meeting point. He noticed that the light was on in the house, meaning that at least Flash, probably also Nightwing had made it there before them. Not a surprise, but still irritating. It was the principle of the thing.

The two got out of the car and walked into the building. Len had to hold back his anger again when he saw the two heroes. He didn't give them a chance to speak before demanding, "What did you do to Wally?"

Dick winced which wasn't a good sign, but Barry was looking at them evenly, "Luthor and Deathstroke attacked the Watchtower. We're still figuring out how they got in. They brought a veritable army with them. All of us heroes were fighting them while Luthor and Deathstroke went to the prison block." Barry went on to explain just _why _Wally was in the prison block and what happened once the two Light members got there. Both Rogues were heartbroken at what Wally had to deal with there. They were also terrified at the thought that Luthor could still shut off Wally's powers. Was there a way to dismantle that? He'd need to look into that.

Len glared at both of them when Barry was done speaking, "You get to see him _only_ when he asks for you. Not before, not after. If he permits it, we can get you information about him so you can continue your research. If he doesn't, you'll send all of your information and research to us and we'll figure it out. Actually, you'll send all of the research to us anyways. Wally deserves to know what you've discovered so far. He deserves to help research his own way. Is that understood?"

Surprisingly, it was Dick who answered first, nodding and stating firmly, "I understand. I'll get with Kid Flash and Blue Beetle to get any information that Flash doesn't have."

"Good," Len said, slightly mollified at how Dick was treating the situation now, even if he hated that it had to come to this, "Have you gotten any further in figuring out what Luthor meant when he said that he knew where Wally was during his missing months?"

"No, he won't talk," Dick sighed, "We can't convince him to, either. He's convinced that he's going to get out of this situation, which I don't understand. What could he possibly think he's going to do? We have video proof of him working with Deathstroke and ordering a man's death."

"You also have video proof of two people you essentially kidnapped since the only person authorized to detain individuals – only for a small amount of time without a trial, of course – is currently off world. With the anti-superhero propaganda going around and people's desire for something more scandalous than another accusation of villainy against Luthor, you're in a lot more trouble than he is," Len pointed out. Dick scowled.

Barry sighed, "I can't imagine what he could have possibly figured out. What did he realize that the rest of us haven't?"

"It was recent," Len stated, "Look into what new information regarding the case that Luthor could have possibly gotten in a recent time period and you'll figure it out. We'll look at it from our end, too."

"Right," Barry sighed again, "We'll look into that. Here, let me go ahead and transfer you the information I have on hand. I'll get you the rest later, alright?"

"Got it," Digger said a second later, before frowning and looking over at Len, "Dinner's almost ready and Mick'll skin us alive if we're late to Wally's homecoming meal."

Len barely resisted the urge to smirk at the sour look on Dick's face, "Alright, tell him we're on our way." He stood up without saying goodbye to either of the two superheroes, leaving Digger to scramble up after him. It was only when he reached the door that he turned around and said, "If either of you – _any_ of you pull this sort of thing again, I will _end_ you, Rogue rules or not."

"I'll help him," Digger growled.

Then they were out of the building and headed back home. Len smiled to himself. It really was home now, wasn't it?


	23. Chapter 23

WWWWWW

Wally slunk into his room, eyeing the space cautiously. He noted idly that Sam and James left the door cracked just slightly open behind him, but they both left. It gave him privacy without making him feel trapped. Was that something they knew would make him feel more comfortable from when he lived with them or was it just an understanding of how criminals think?

Wally shook his head; it didn't really matter. He ran a more careful eye over his bedroom, drifting from item to item. He got a little flash of something here or there – a memory of James singing a Pokémon theme song in a mall, a memory of opening presents for the first time in a long time, a memory of James, Hartley, and Cameron crowded on his bed while he put on a nice outfit. It was nothing substantial, but the memories were being brought back at a more rapid pace than he'd experienced insofar.

His lips curled down slightly when he saw the number of Flash-themed items in his room. Were they practical jokes? Had the Rogues replaced his stuff with Flash merchandise? No, that wouldn't make sense. Based on the wear and tear of some of the items, he definitely used them regularly for a long time. When he looked closer, he found that there was a lot of superhero merchandise. There was some villainous merch, too, but nothing like the sheer number of superhero stuff. Was he really into stuff like this? Did he enjoy dressing up in the colors of his enemies? It didn't make sense.

And yet, when Wally's fingers drifted over the clearly worn Robin wallet, all he felt was a sense of warmth and pride. He had clearly loved these things. Had he somehow been a superhero fan? It might make sense with the number of superheroes he apparently had a connection with, but still… He was a supervillain. Wally carefully picked the wallet up, opening it. There was a good bit of cash in there still, lending credence to the fact that the Rogues really hadn't messed with his stuff while he was gone. Well, it was clear that they'd dusted and vacuumed, but they hadn't moved anything from what Wally could tell.

Wally looked through the rest of the wallet. There were receipts behind the money, detailing his last purchases before his 'death.' He had his coins in a back pocket and a bunch of membership cards in a different one. His driver's license was there. He was softly grinning, expression bright and open, face a lot more filled out than it was currently. Wally put it back in before going further. When he opened the last little pocket, he found a small cache of pictures. He pulled them out, heart going soft at what he saw.

Most of them were of him and Dick in increasingly ridiculous scenarios. There was one where Wally had evidently leaned over right as the camera was going off, lips just barely touching Dick's cheekbone. There was another one where their fingers were linked together, and Dick was giving him this look filled with adoration and trust and more love than Wally was sure what to do with. In the picture, Wally was giving him the same look in return. Looking at it like this, caught in snapshots where neither had been aware of being photographed, Wally could start to believe Dick's love a little more. He hadn't been sure of it, honestly, back at the Watchtower. He hadn't been sure that Dick ever felt something so strongly for him. He'd been a little bit convinced that the majority of Dick's love came from the fact that he just got Wally back. After all, what could stupid Wally West ever do to attract a super beautiful, super nice, super rich superhero?

Carefully, Wally set those pictures down, carding through the rest of the stack. These depicted him with various superheroes and supervillains in their civvies. He saw Cheshire and Red Arrow draping themselves over his shoulders as he gave them a harassed look. He saw Flash animatedly describing something while Wally and Iris laughed. He saw a group of men and one woman gathered together in front of a dirt path, all wearing workout clothing. He didn't recognize anyone but Barry and himself in that picture. He saw himself with the Rogues, too. There was one for each Rogue. Wally and Mick cooking. Wally and Len fiddling with some sort of device. Wally and Sam sitting comfortably on the front porch of a different house. Wally and Digger absent-mindedly reaching out to fist bump each other while they kept their gaze glued to the TV. Wally and Mark playing some sort of card game where Mark had his head in his hands and Wally was up in the air, cheering. Wally and Hartley relaxing on the couch. Wally and James laughing over what looked to be a small vat of chemicals. Wally and Cameron proudly each holding a document. If Wally squinted a little closer, it looked like they were adoption papers.

At the very bottom of the stack, there was a small cutout of an ultrasound. The back of the page said that it was the ultrasound for Lian Harper. It took Wally a little bit of digging, but he realized that this was his goddaughter. There were no pictures of a baby, so he must not have had a chance to really get to see her before he 'died.' Was he even alive when she was born?

His heart ached at the idea that he missed two years of her life. This was his _goddaughter_. He'd agreed to protect and love her. He'd agreed to _raise_ her if needed. He didn't even know her. What color was her hair? Her eyes? What did she like to do? What was her favorite color?

Idly, he remembered Barry saying that Iris had given birth to twins while he'd been gone. Those were his biological cousins, then, weren't they? He'd missed almost two years of their lives as well. His own cousins, who he was sure he would have spoiled and corrupted in equal measure, had gone two years without him in it. How much else did he miss out on? How many obligations did he fail? How many people did he hurt? How much did he _lose_?

For the first time since he could remember, Wally laid down and cried a pure, gentle crying.

NNNNNN

Natasha took a deep breath before walking into the café where she'd agreed to meet with Eliza and Albert in case a situation like this ever happened. Lex Luthor had been hurt assisting the Justice League and was currently recuperating at their headquarters. At least, that's what the papers were reporting. Natasha didn't know if the Justice League had reporters on their side or even if some of the members actually _were_ reporters. It was possible. Either way, she'd been approached by Cyborg and told that it was a ruse to cover the fact that the Justice League was detaining Luthor.

It was the perfect opportunity for the Infinity, Inc. kids to go through his stuff and get dirt on him. They needed to be out from under his control. They couldn't continue to live in a world where he was forcing them to do evil without their knowledge, where he had the power to shut off their abilities and get them killed. They _needed_ to get out.

He was so powerful, though, that the only way they could think of doing it was to go through his stuff while he wasn't there. They needed to get information that showed, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was evil and had been evil and would continue to be evil. It had to be more powerful than the time he saved the world with his anti-MFD devices. It had to be more powerful than his Infinity, Inc. It had to be more powerful than all the donations and speeches and 'gifts to humanity' that he threw out like they were candy.

Upon further research, Natasha had learned that the Justice League had accused Luthor of villainy so many times that it wasn't even funny. He managed to get out of it every. Single. Time. He had more connections than they could possibly fight, especially with limited access to proof. Most of the time, it was only their claims that they fought him that they had. Luthor had no problem producing fake alibis and he always made sure that the cameras in the area were down and the papers and research used for his evil deeds were hidden so completely that police and military couldn't find them. Even though the Justice League was a trustworthy source, no jury could reasonably find Luthor guilty only on hearsay. It wouldn't be fair, even if it would be right. Natasha had no doubt that Luthor bought the jury out either way.

So, at this point, it was paperwork that they needed. They needed hard, concrete proof. Of course, the Justice League and the Outsiders had a ton of information all gathered up, but they were worried that it wouldn't make an impact if they presented it. The Justice League and Luthor were seen as enemies at the moment. Having them make this attack against him could easily be spun as a publicity stunt or a last-ditch attempt to stop the new anti-hero laws from being passed.

Finally pulling herself out of her head, Natasha realized she'd ordered herself some coffee and a muffin mostly by rote. She shook her head to clear it before looking over the café to find her friends and teammates. She found them quickly but was surprised to see another face there.

Cautiously, Natasha approached the table, eyes narrowing at the stranger. Her jaw clenched and her fingers threatened to squeeze the cup of coffee in her hands to the point of breaking. Her voice was dangerous when she asked, "And who are you?"

It wasn't the stranger who answered. Eliza looked up, eyes wide at Natasha's tone, before frantically waving her arms around, "No, no, no. It's cool, Nat! Promise! This is Bart. Why don't you sit down, okay?"

"Okay," Natasha said reluctantly, resisting the urge to sigh and ask Eliza to stop calling her Nat. Once she was sitting, she directed her question to the overall group, "What's going on?"

This time, it was the stranger – Bart – who answered, "Hey! So, I figured that you guys were going to be doing something totally crash but totally dangerous now that Luthor's put away. And, well, we were able to figure out your names, so I figured it would be polite – and helpful! – for us to give you one of our names. So, my name is Bart and I am at your service. You would probably know me better as Kid Flash, though." He said the whole thing in an even, quiet tone that wouldn't carry around the room. It was clear he'd had secret conversations in public like this before.

Natasha couldn't keep her jaw from dropping, though. Had one of the Outsiders really just given up their identity? Of course, Beast Boy's identity as Garfield Logan was impossibly obvious. He couldn't have hidden that if he'd tried. Being green and able to turn into different animals wasn't exactly a subtle ability. Natasha had always felt a little heartbroken for him, honestly. As much as he was _super cool_, he had also had a lot of options taken away from him in this whole superhero business. But here was someone who had _nothing_ giving them away. And they'd just decided to give them their identity as some sort of fair play or easy communication. It was unthinkable to her.

Trying to recover from that embarrassing display, Natasha gave Kid Fl- _Bart_ a tight smile, "Right. Sorry for snapping at you."

"It's totally cool! I get it," Bart responded, giving her a dopey grin.

"You seem a lot more relaxed than you were at the meeting, even though you're outnumbered this time instead of the other way around," Albert pointed out hesitantly.

Bart rolled his eyes, "Please, we're all heroes here. Why would you attack me? Besides, you've gotta be _really_ fast to catch me. Only a handful of people in the world that I know of who could catch me."

Eliza looked up briefly at that. Natasha knew that her and Albert had taken the news of the mysterious person who'd submitted that frankly horrifying testimony pretty hard. It was one thing to read all the facts and science that the Outsiders had given them. It was something different to read the actual experiences of someone who'd been _tortured_ for years. Especially when the torture was the only reason that the three of them even had powers now. In Natasha's mind, that made her want to never meet that person. She would feel too guilty. She would be too afraid that he would blame them for his predicament. Especially since he'd been _recently_ in Luthor's grasp, being experimented on.

She knew that it was different for Albert and Eliza. Albert figured that some of the guilt would go away if he could just meet the person and ensure that they were fine, now, that they had a happy life that they could live. It was an unlikely goal, but an admirable one. Eliza, though, had taken it the hardest. That was understandable since she was a speedster just like this mysterious person was. Natasha knew that Eliza had pictured herself in their place and had been more horrified than the other two. Natasha knew that Eliza had wondered how much of her specific powers had come from researching that specific person.

Still, Eliza and Albert clearly weren't going to say anything about it. Natasha steeled herself before asking, "Is there any news of the person we read about? It would mean a lot to know if they have been found."

Bart gave them a smile. It was a little sad, but mostly happy, so Natasha allowed herself to hope. That allowance was rewarded when Bart answered, "We found him! He's doing… alright, now. There are some medical complications that we're working through right now. Some just require healing, but some are, we think, speedster specific, so that's what I'm working on. But he's with his family, now. We were actually just given the all-clear that he's made it home and is resting there maybe a half an hour ago. It might make you happy to know that he was actually the reason that we've got Luthor in custody right now."

"Really?" Eliza asked, expression lighter than it had been since they'd met with the Outsiders a week or two ago. She swallowed before asking, "Does he… does he know about us?"

Bart grimaced, "No, not yet. He's facing enough of his own problems. We don't want to throw him into ours as well. I'm not sure how he'd feel about the Everyman Project being completed after all he went through, you know? We're not going to keep secrets from him because we've seen how that works out, but we're definitely going to try to ease him into it a little bit. Hopefully. We might not have a choice."

"What does that mean?" Natasha asked sharply.

Bart laughed, "No, no, that's not what I meant, I swear. I just meant that he's not really the kind to sit back and let others do things for him. He's very much the kind of person who wants to insert himself into what's going on. I mean, I think even he will take some time to heal, but it wouldn't surprise me if he threw himself into research and stuff pretty soon."

Mollified and once again embarrassed at her immediate suspiciousness (it had been strong even before she'd found out about Luthor's manipulations), Natasha settled back into her seat, "Alright. Is that all you were here for? Or did you want to help with something more specific, something closer to what we're about to go do?"

Smiling quietly, Bart answered, "I'd like to help with everything, honestly. But, yeah, I wanted to give some advice for what you're about to do. I don't know what you've come up with so far and you don't have to tell me, obviously. But in case you haven't thought of it yet, I wanted to suggest a few things. First, be very, very wary of his robot secretary, Mercy. She's incredibly dangerous. I know you guys can fight, but I would try to avoid it with her, if possible. Second, I don't recommend discovering everything. I know you'll want to and it all _should_ be discovered, but if people completely unrelated to all this anti-superhero laws, Light mess find evidence, it will help convince the people even more of Luthor's deceit and villainy. Third, don't disrupt the evidence chain. If things are moved in the process of your investigation, move them back or memorize where they were. Take pictures if that helps. Make sure that the investigation – yours _and_ the police's – is rock solid. This is your _chance_ to take him down. A slip up at this stage could make it all fall apart. Got it?"

"Got it," Natasha affirmed. Those were all very good points and Natasha hadn't even thought of the second two. She'd definitely made plans to deal with Mercy since, with Luthor gone, Mercy was their greatest threat.

Bart looked the three of them over for a second, eyes suddenly more tired and dark than they'd been earlier. They were the eyes of someone who had lost everything at some point or another. Natasha abruptly remembered Beast Boy saying that everyone on the Outsiders had lost something to the Light. She remembered him saying that they'd killed his mother. She remembered Terra's heartbreaking confession of what they made her into before she was able to break free. Natasha wondered, just for a moment, what horrible thing the Light did to him.

Before she could think on it for long, though, that sunny expression overtook his countenance again and he gave them a cheeky grin, "Well, that's all I've got for your guys. You're going to do great! We believe in you! Remember, if you need us at any point, we will be there, no matter what it does to the investigation. Alright, go kick some butt and take some names!" And then he was gone, swiftly weaving his way through the evening café crowd and letting the door shut behind him. They saw him pause, once, the world weighing down his shoulders, before he moved off and quickly disappeared.

Eliza was the first to speak into the silence that had been left behind, "I'm scared."

Natasha sighed, "I know, Eliza, but we have to do this. This is what we swore to do when we joined this program. Luthor has been stopping us from doing it, but we don't have that excuse any more. We _are_ superheroes, no matter what Luthor has made us do. We have done wrong, but we have the chance to fix it."

"Well," Albert said, quiet and emphatic and passionate, "Let's get started, then."


	24. Chapter 24

NNNNNN

Natasha tried to walk through the halls of the main LexCorp building with as much confidence and bravado as possible. Well, sort of. She knew that it was a delicate balance between seeming casual and seeming confident. She needed to look like she was supposed to be here, that she was doing what she had been ordered to do.

Luckily, all three members of the Infinity, Inc. had been to the LexCorp building before. It was where they had interviewed to join the project. They'd been brought there for press meetings and meet and greets with scientists. Sometimes, Luthor would even bring them there to check out upgrades to their suits. It wasn't necessarily unusual for them to be roaming the halls like this. The only one who would really be able to tell that they were here for anything but business as usual was Luthor and he'd gotten himself locked up in the JL's headquarters.

Licking her lips nervously, Natasha gave a terse smile to Eliza and Albert. They gave her shaky smiles back. Steeling herself one more time, Natasha pressed the button for Luthor's personal floor. She had to scan her palm print and fingers and enter a password, but the elevator started moving for her anyways. Good. That was good. It meant that Luthor hadn't been suspicious enough of them after the meal with the Outsiders to change their access. Natasha had been worried that the three of them were acting too suspicious, that Luthor would suspect something.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Either that, or he felt that his criminal deeds were too well-hidden for them to find. That would be a depressing option because if he thought that, then it was probably true. Of course, they had Eliza to speed around the rooms and check everything at ten times the speed of the rest of them, but they needed to be very careful.

Finally, the three of them reached Luthor's private floor. The knew there was a lot up there, but they'd only seen the office. Carefully, Natasha sent her two teammates out through the floor. When they'd made their plan, she'd been skeptical about splitting up, but Albert had pointed out that time really was against them. As unsuspicious as it might have been for them to go to Luthor's private floors, it would be horribly suspicious if they were up there for hours when Luthor was gone. So, they split up. Albert had the left side, Natasha had the office smack in the middle, and Eliza had the right side and instructions to help the others once she finished.

They needed to be fast but thorough. This was their only chance and Natasha was _not_ going to screw it up. With that thought in mind, they got to work.

It wasn't until twenty stressful minutes later that Natasha found anything. She had resorted to moving every single book on the man's bookshelf in frustration. She knew it was childish and cliché and there was no possible way he'd do something so painfully obvious to hide a room, but it was all she could think of. Her camera roll was filled up with pictures of the room and coded documents, but _nothing_ that proved_ anything_. Then, lo and behold, pulling one specific book back caused a click to shudder its way through the bookcase before the thing settled back into the wall and slid silently to the right.

Natasha actually had to gape at the opening, she was so surprised. She'd tried that in a fit of desperation! She had been certain that nothing would actually come from it! Shaking her head, Natasha took careful note of which book triggered the opening, taking another picture to document the search. Very carefully, she stepped through the doorway. Before she got all the way through, she backed out and grabbed one of the harmless books on the bookcase, placing it against the doorframe of the secret room. She wouldn't put it past Luthor at this point to booby trap the place and she had zero desire to be eaten by his bookshelf.

She crept through the doorway, flinching in surprise when the lights came on by themselves. She blinked through the stars in her vision and tried to make sense of what was in the room. Her jaw dropped when she realized what it was. This… this was _tons_ of records! Scores of them! Boxes of them! No, no that couldn't be right. Maybe it was just documents for LexCorp. Luthor was one of the smartest people on the planet. There was absolutely no way he would hide everything in a place this obvious. Especially when one of his main threats was Superman. Who could _see through walls_. Yeah, this was probably just normal, everyday company paperwork.

Natasha actually had to sit down in surprise when she opened a box, read through the first couple papers, and found the detailed plans for creating a super robot that had destroyed a good chunk of Metropolis about a year prior.

This was… this was _actually_ his stash of illegal paperwork and plans. He had… just had it. Sitting there. This entire time. It looked like this paperwork went back _years_. If anyone had just pulled the wrong book off his shelf, they would have found it. How could Luthor have been so _stupid_?

Then again, was it really stupidity? Cliché though it might have been, this method had kept Luthor hidden and in the crime business for decades. Still, there was no security. No passwords, no technology, no nothing. How did he expect to stand up to scrutiny if someone decided to search his place? Then again, who would get a warrant to search this place? He always had enough excuses and money to get out of any sort of legal retributions.

Natasha shook her head. This was what they needed. Just that one piece of paper showing the plans of that robot was enough to get a warrant to the place, she was sure. Now, she just needed to get out of the room, get the other two, and call the police. Easy peasy.

Or not. Natasha turned towards the door just in time to see Mercy looming in the doorway. Well, she was dead. This was why she didn't want to split up. Natasha resisted the urge to scream out for help. As much as she needed it, she needed to get both of them _away_ from the room before they started to fight. If they fought in there, they'd destroy so much evidence. Natasha wasn't willing to take that chance. She was going to take Luthor down. No matter what.

With that in mind, she attacked.

Focusing in on herself, gathering every part of her power, Natasha focused her light into a forcefield, running forward and slamming it into the doorway. Mercy stumbled backwards and Natasha pushed forwards. She just needed to get them clear of the doorway and maintain the forcefield long enough to close the entrance to the room. Then, she could call for help. Then, she could work with the team that she trusted her life to.

She… just… needed… to push… just… a little… further…

Mercy's arm canon ripped through Natasha's shield, sending her tumbling back into the room. Natasha got a hold of herself and threw herself into the air before she could crash into any of the boxes of information. She immediately pulled her light back into a shield and slammed it at the doorway. She could do this. She could do this. At the very least, Mercy's cannon must have been loud enough to attract the attention of the other two. Please let it have been loud enough.

Gritting her teeth, Natasha poured more light into the shield. She needed it to be strong, stronger than any shield she'd ever made before. She could _not_ let Mercy beat her.

In the end, she didn't have to worry about it. Eliza was there in the span of a heartbeat. With a snarl, Eliza grabbed Mercy by the shoulders and _threw_ her across the room. The force of the toss sent Eliza stumbling to the ground, but it gave Natasha the opening she needed to get out and move the necessary book to close the door. She smiled when the book she'd place in the doorway held. She'd been worried that she wouldn't be able to get it back open in time.

Albert crashed into the room a second later, just as Natasha was frantically throwing up another shield to protect her and the room behind her from the spray of bullets Mercy was using. Was Luthor _insane_ to program Mercy to be this destructive? Natasha frowned at the thought of the robot's name. Was that Luthor's sick way of making a joke?

Growling, Natasha yelled out to Albert and Eliza, "I need you two to take her down! I need to protect this room!" As much as she wanted to be the one fighting, Natasha knew that she was the only one with a truly defensive skill and she needed to protect the reason for this entire excursion. Still, it didn't sit right by her to have to stand there uselessly as her teammates dipped and dodged and weaved around a psychotic robot bent on their destruction. What would Mercy do if she killed them? Would she just let their bodies rot until Luthor came back, or did she have some sort of mechanism built in for that kind of thing? Well, it didn't really matter because Natasha had no desire to find out.

In front of her, Albert had grown several feet, separating his atoms just far enough to make sure that he could take more attacks from Mercy without being too large for the room. It seemed like he was taking the brunt of the attacks with a few of his own retaliatory hits while Eliza raced around the room and tried to dismantle Mercy piece by piece. It was a good plan, a really good one. Natasha just hoped it worked.

It did.

Even though Natasha winced with every blow Albert took and flinched forward in concern every time Eliza stumbled, they worked together flawlessly. It took a long time to take Mercy apart enough that she stopped functioning as a superweapon and then it took just a bit longer to take her apart enough that she stopped functioning _period_ (and Natasha, surprisingly, had to work really hard to feel like they didn't just kill someone because, evil or not, Mercy acted quiet a bit like a real person), but they did it.

Natasha breathed out a sigh of relief. It was the first fight they'd been in without Luthor watching and giving helpful hints and comments. It was the first time they'd done something by themselves for themselves and Natasha couldn't be prouder.

Once it was clear that they were safe, Natasha allowed herself to drop her forcefield. She stumbled from the sudden drop in adrenalin and determination but managed to catch herself on the bookshelf behind her. Belatedly, she realized that her skin was stained with sweat and she was breathing hard. She needed to practice more with her forcefield, apparently. She'd spent too much time working on offense and not enough on defense.

Eliza buzzed up to her, grinning and breathing hard. Albert ambled over at a slower pace, limping just the slightest bit. Natasha narrowed her eyes at the obvious wound, but Albert made a dismissive motion with his hand and Natasha decided to trust it. Nodding to both of them, she pulled out her phone, "Guess who just found the big stash?"

"Is that what you were guarding?" Eliza panted, "I was hoping you had an actual reason for that."

Natasha snorted, "Yes, I had an actual reason for just standing there. Honestly, Trajectory. Okay, I'm going to call the police. Let's take this supervillain down." They both grinned in response, sharp and bright and oh so proud. This was the first real step on their journey to becoming heroes. They were never going to let another supervillain manipulate them like that again. Never.

WWWWWW

When Wally fell into bed that night, he had expected to sleep for a little while and then be woken by the nightmares of his past. It had happened. Repeatedly. That wasn't what happened that night, though. For the first time in a long, long time, he slept the entire night through. No interruptions for surprise training. No being woken by other people's nightmares. No difficultly sleeping through the dull lights in the Watchtower. No nightmares. Just pure, fulfilling sleep following an afternoon filled with a fantastic dinner and an evening of TV shows and photo albums. It was the most contented Wally ever remembered feeling.

And that was, perhaps, why everything finally worked.

If Wally had been expecting some sort of magnificent fan fare for the moment, he was sorely disappointed. All he got was a headache. Then again, a headache was more than worth it in his book.

His memories were back. His memories were _back_.

Maybe not all of them (there was still a suspiciously blank six-month period just after his 'death' that was going to drive Wally crazy if he didn't figure it out soon), but enough of them. More of them than he had imagined. He remembered his childhood. He remembered meeting the Rogues and joining them. He remembered his first disastrous experience with the Light. He remembered Cameron and Dick and Roy (or, well, Will now? Apparently? Hadn't Roy said to call him Will when Wally saw him? That was weird…). He – he _remembered._

He had to tell someone. He had to tell _everyone_.

Without any other thought, Wally threw himself out his room and down the stairs. He grinned when he heard the others gathered in the kitchen. He'd barely made it into the room when Len commented idly, "No running in the kitchen."

Wally remembered that. He remembered hearing Len say that _all the time_. So, all he did in response was grin and speed over to hug Len. It wasn't the first time he'd hugged his fearless leader, but it was certainly one of the few times. Len wasn't really a hugging type and Wally typically tried to respect that. Case in point, Len's only reaction to Wally hugging him was to freeze (not literally) and stare straight ahead like a cornered animal.

Wally ignored that and moved onto to hugging people all the way down the line. He saved James for last just because he knew that James would be the one most comfortable with clinging on for a long hug.

Once Wally finally slowed down enough for the others to properly see him (with James octopused onto him, limbs locked around Wally's waist and head leaning on his shoulder), Hartley blurted, "What was that?"

Wally grinned again, bright and excited and _free_, "Guess who has his memories back?" He didn't give them a chance to answer before shouting, "Me! It's me!"

There was stunned silence for a moment where the others just stared at him, uncomprehending. Then, in the space of a second, they all burst into movement, shouting and throwing their hands up in celebration and whooping loudly. It was chaotic and wild and exactly like Wally remembered. In other words, it was perfect.

When they all finally settled down enough to start eating, Len started interrogating him, "How much do you really remember? Is it everything?"

"Not everything, no," Wally answered regretfully, "I still can't for the life of me remember that six-month period after my death or whatever. There are some other details missing from when I was younger, too. Little things that I'm hoping to get back in time. Like, birthdays or the big school events of other people or things like that. My guess is that the reason I had the memory loss in the first place was brain damage caused by lack of oxygen after I fell into the water after trying to steal from that Goode studios warehouse. Probably. Could have something to do with that horrible place that old lady sent me. I'm not super sure what that was, though, so I can't say for certain."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mark said with a frown, "But I'm happy enough that you're talking about it that I don't even care."

"That's weird," Wally responded, sending Mark a soft grin to show that he didn't really mean it.

Len started the interrogation back up again, "So, you still have no idea what's causing the blackouts?"

Wally frowned, "Nah, no clue. Luthor said that he knew, but I doubt he's talking. Maybe now that he's in custody, they can look through his stuff and figure out the answer. That would be super convenient. But, I'm not sure if he even really knew or if he was just using that to draw me out." Not that it worked. And Ben paid the price for that.

Wally tried to shake that thought away, focusing in on the situation. He smiled to himself again, just looking at the rest of the group. Len's next question took away his smile, "Do you want to tell the heroes?"

Biting his lip in concentration, Wally picked at his food, "I mean, yes. Definitely. They need to know. And I want to see them again. Of course, I do. I really, really want to see Dick now that I, you know, actually remember him. Oh man, I hope he didn't find the ring. Do you think he found the ring? I'm going to pretend for a moment that the ring doesn't exist. Okay, I'm calm now. Um, where was I going with that? Oh! Yeah, sorry. I'm a little scatterbrained this morning. My head's not used to having this much memory, I guess. I want to tell the heroes, but… later today. For right now, I just want to spend some time with my family. You guys were the ones who fixed me after all."

"Ugh," Hartley groaned, "You're going to talk about the healing magic of family, aren't you? Please don't. I don't think I could handle it."

"Aw," Wally cooed, "You wouldn't listen to anything I say just because I'm the one who said it and you missed me? I'm hurt."

Completely missing the mocking tone of Wally's statement, or perhaps ignoring it, Hartley gave Wally a watery smile, "Of course I'll listen to anything you say and be glad that you're here to say it, Wally. I'll always feel that way now that I know what it's like to be here while you're not here."

"Alright," Len said, completely ignoring the side conversation, "What do you want to do, today?"

"Could use some training in a group, if I'm being honest. And then, maybe movie night?" Wally suggested. With all of his memories freshly back, he could clearly remember a time when he would have been significantly too awkward and scared to have ever made such a clear-cut suggestion like that. He also clearly remembered the first time he did it. He remembered a lot of things now and he was never going to take them for granted. Not after something like this. His memories made him, and he didn't want to lose them.

"Sounds good," Len said, standing up and collecting plates, "Once everyone gets changed into a training outfit, we'll gather back in the living room and then head out." The others nodded and started carefully finishing their meals. Cameron and Wally, the only ones other than Len who had finished, nodded gratefully to Len for taking their plates before moving their way towards their rooms. Wally zipped ahead and got changed as quick as he could so he could be waiting outside Cameron's door when the other man finally made his way up the stairs.

Cameron raised his eyebrows at Wally, "Come to watch me change?" Despite his words, Cameron opened the door to let Wally in. They both knew that they'd just talk through the bathroom door while Cameron changed.

Wally rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, Cam. I've given up on Dick and have come to make my moves on my brother instead." Cameron made a fake gagging noise and Wally grinned, "I came to check up on you. I feel like we haven't really gotten a chance to talk since I got back."

Cameron's shoulders stiffened as he grabbed the clothes he needed, "Yeah, well, maybe I didn't feel like talking to someone who didn't remember me."

"The fact that you said maybe tells me that's not actually the reason," Wally pointed out, "Well, it tells me that's not the _whole_ reason."

Cameron sighed and set his clothes down, turning to face Wally, "What do you want me to say, Walls?"

"I want to know if you actually wanted me to come back. I want to know why you left the Rogues. More than anything, I want to know if you're alright," Wally said, settling down on Cameron's bed. He felt like they were kids again and they had just moved in with the Rogues. The couple of months after joining the Rogues after their time in the Light had been… rough. The Light didn't exactly breed trust and it wasn't like either of them had had great experience with family before the Rogues. There were a lot of times those first few months where they'd been in this exact same position and talked things out like this. They hadn't had to do it as often as the years went by, but it was still a tradition with them.

He was hoping it would still be a tradition now. Cameron clenched his jaw and picked his clothes back up. He didn't start talking until he was in the bathroom, "Of course I wanted you to come back, Wally. What sort of stupid question is that? I – I never thought it would happen because you were _dead_ but of course I wanted it. You're my best friend. That fact will never change. You know that, right? I know that Dick's your best friend or whatever. Or maybe it's Hartley. I don't know. But you're mine. And about leaving the Rogues, surely someone's already told you that. I left because they wouldn't let go of the heroes and that was going to get all of them killed. That's it. Because, I mean, playing hero is what got you killed. None of the other villains were playing hero. Well, except Luthor but that hardly counts."

Wally sighed, "Cam, you're one of my best friends, too. I don't know what I'd do without you. And, of course, I know that I'm your best friend. You've always made that clear. But… I _am_ friends with heroes. I know how weird that is. Trust me, yesterday I had barely any memories and I could not for the life of me figure out why I knew and interacted with so many heroes. That's not to say that I have a strong level of trust for them and there's always a little bit of fear that one of them is going to get cold feet and arrest me, but… they're my friends. My family. I – I don't want to give that up. Even if it gets me killed again. Besides, I noticed you didn't answer my last question."

"Were they questions?" Cameron asked idly. Wally sighed again. With an aggravated groan, Cameron finally answered, "Yes, I'm alright. I'm just – being moody. That's it, I swear. I'll be back to normal soon. I wasn't really prepared for this and I feel very off-center right now. And – for the rest of the stuff, Len already promised that we'd all sit down and talk about the hero and villain stuff later. So, you can save that argument for another day, alright? I don't know when we're going to talk about it, but we're probably going to do it after we figure out your space-outs."

"Great, thanks for reminding me," Wally said.

Cameron laughed before sobering, "You really have no clue what caused those or where you were?"

"Nope," Wally sighed, "I'm assuming that's where I got my boost in speed from because it sounds like I was already faster by the time the Light got ahold of me again. I don't know what would cause me to get a boost in speed and lose six months of my life, but there you have it."

"That's so strange," Cameron muttered, "And none of the Bats could even find you?"

"Nope," Wally said. His expression dropped when he thought of what people had said about Dick's determination to find him in the time he'd been gone. As much as his inner romantic squealed at the fact that it took Dick a _year_ to stop looking, the rest of him was horrified at what Dick went through. Especially since Wally had _seen_ the look on Len's face when Wally mentioned the ring. There was no way Dick didn't find the engagement ring. That was so _awkward_. How would proposing even work? Like, sure, there were plenty of times when people knew that the proposal was coming before they got proposed to, but this was _different_. Dick had thought Wally was dead. Would Wally even be able to use the same ring? That would have awful connotations, wouldn't it? Here, wear this reminder of when you thought I was dead for the rest of your life as a way to symbolize our love and union. That would be horrible. But… but… it was the _perfect_ ring. Wally had been so pleased with himself when he found it. Did Dick even still have the ring? Wally wanted to believe so, but he also didn't want to think about it because that was kind of depressing. How would Wally even get the ring back if Dick had it? He could sneak into their house and look for it. Would it be considered sneaking if it was his own house?

Cameron's snort interrupted Wally's inner panic, "What are you flailing about over there?"

Wally squawked, "I'm not _flailing_." Cameron leveled him with an unimpressed stare before herding him off Cameron's bed and leading him out the door. Wally slumped against Cameron, causing the other man to stumble slightly with a curse, "My death _ruined_ my proposal plans, Cam! How will I ever recover? Proposing would be so _awkward_ at this stage, wouldn't it be?"

"Please stop talking to me about this," Cameron sighed. From beside them, clearly having just left his own room, Hartley snickered. Wally didn't stop giving Cameron his patented pitiful expression though (marveling over the fact that he _remembered_ it, that he _knew_ what effect this would have on his _family_).

As expected, Cameron crumbled pathetically quickly. Normally, he held on for longer than that, but Wally thought it could be excused after he had been dead and then memory-less for so long.

When they finally made it downstairs, the three of them were deep into discussion, leading to good-natured eyerolls and dramatic groans from the rest of the team. Yeah, Wally thought to himself, it was good to be home.


	25. Chapter 25

WWWWWW

Movie night had ended up being movie afternoon, but that worked out fine. Wally had big plans and the longer he had to enact them, the better. Before anything else happened, though, he needed to get Dick's ring back. Him, Hartley, and Cameron had thought up a new proposal idea and Wally was going to need the ring for when that happened. No way was he proposing without a ring. Like, nothing against proposals that don't already have a ring, but he worked his _butt_ off trying to find that perfect ring. He was _not_ going to let that go to waste.

Plan in mind, Wally gave the Rogues his signature grin, trying to ignore the hint of fear hidden in the back of their eyes (trying to ignore his own fear that he'll run and disappear again), and rushed off. To Bludhaven he would go.

He could _still_ not believe that Dick had convinced him that the two of them should live in Bludhaven. Of course, Wally commuted to Central all the time for work, but, like, seriously? Bludhaven? That place was _trash_. Dick seemed to enjoy cleaning it up, though. Whatever made him happy. It wasn't like the two of them spent much time there. Between zeta beams and Wally's speed, the entire world was just a quick trip over. They could go anywhere they wanted whenever they wanted. A city was just a place to make camp for the night. Well, except for Central City. That would always be home for Wally. That city changed his life and gave him his family. He'd never be able to stop thanking it for that.

Wally shook his head, zipping quickly up to the window outside their apartment. This would be awkward if Dick was home. Of course, Wally could just zip around and there was nothing Dick could do, and Wally didn't technically have to explain anything to him, but still. It would be weird. Even for Wally. Especially for a Wally who was thought to still have limited memories.

He didn't hear anything from inside the apartment, though. After looking around, Wally phased seamlessly through the wall, stepping into the apartment. Hopefully, he wouldn't be triggering any alarms. The Bat cameras in the house were made to send alerts to Wally and Dick if someone other than them came into the apartment. The cameras were outfitted with incredible facial recognition and a memory of both Dick and Wally's suits. If it saw either of those, it wouldn't send the alert. Very convenient. Wally was just hoping that he was still in the system. If Dick had removed him, then this little subterfuge was over.

Then again, whether the camera caught him or not, he really should get going. He didn't know how much of the apartment he was going to have to search and he had _no_ idea where Dick was. He could be at work or doing early hero work or with a friend or doing training. Wally was completely out of sync with Dick's schedule. He wasn't even entirely sure what Dick was doing with his life. He'd said something about leaving college, right? Wally was fairly certain he remembered that in one of their conversations. Where did Dick say he went after that? The work force, probably, but Wally genuinely couldn't remember. Had Dick even said?

Well, that didn't matter. Wally would figure that out later. For the moment, he had a ring to hunt down.

Wally started with the bedroom. It was the place that made the most sense. Plus, the apartment wasn't very large anyways. Their bedroom was a fairly large portion of the apartment. Quickly, Wally flew like a hurricane through the room, going methodically through every drawer and putting everything back exactly as he found it. He thought to himself that he was lucky he had so much practice robbing rich people's hotel rooms. This was basically the same thing and it meant that Wally was super-fast at it. He would bet that Bart couldn't do this as quickly as him (he was a little, tiny bit ashamed of how competitive he felt towards Bart before his 'death' but also was fairly certain that Bart hadn't even noticed).

It wasn't until Wally got to a box on a shelf in the closet that Wally found the ring. When he did, though, it didn't seem as important. Carefully, Wally slowed down, taking in the contents of the box. It was all… about him. If he had to guess, this was all the research Dick had done in the year he'd been searching for Wally. Heart breaking just a little bit, Wally flipped through the papers and notebooks and pictures. He found urban myths and unsubstantiated science and rumors of alien artifacts. This was… this was a lot. There was a lot here.

When he dug further through the papers, though, Wally found something that broke his heart even further. Down at the bottom of the box, there were memories of Wally's life. He saw multitudes of pictures of the two of them. There were ticket stubs of movies and plays they'd gone to. There were article clippings of Robin's daring arrests and Momentum's stunning thefts. There were knickknacks they'd picked up on their travels and cards from years of birthdays, holidays, and (if they remembered) romantic Valentine's and anniversaries.

Wally closed his eyes against the grief and guilt that slammed into him. Despite not knowing where he'd gone, Wally was reasonably sure that he hadn't abandoned everyone on purpose. Still, that didn't stop the guilt from swamping him. Dick had obviously been hurt _so much_ from Wally's disappearance. That felt like a failure to Wally. It felt like a betrayal.

They'd both known, from the very start of their relationship, at the too-young ages of 13 and 15, that there was a very, very, very high chance that they were going to die young. Neither one of them had the safest career choices. And if they didn't die, there was always the very real possibility of Wally going to jail. They'd talked about it. They'd talked about moving on and coping and how things would be split up. That didn't make it any easier for Wally to see what it was really going to look like if he died before Dick did. He couldn't picture doing this to Dick again. That – that would be the _last_ thing he wanted. He wasn't sure if Dick would survive it. He wondered if he'd react the same way Dick did. He felt like he would. Then again, he could always end up going down a road like Sam did, slipping into a dark depression. Or he could go a similar route as Cameron and end up being hard and cold and a worse criminal than he already was.

Wally shook his head. It didn't bear thinking about. He wasn't going to die any time soon. He wasn't going to let Dick die anytime soon either. They were fine. This wasn't going to happen again. It _wasn't_. (If only he could believe himself).

Alright, he needed to put everything back and then split. He'd found the ring and that was all he was there for. He could mope and have an existential crisis somewhere where there _wasn't_ the risk of getting caught and judged by his boyfriend. Carefully, Wally rearranged everything (except the ring, obviously) back into the box and settled it on the shelf. He took one moment to look over the room, basking in the feelings of familiarity and the memories that popped up at the sight of the room. He'd never take something like that for granted ever again. Maybe he didn't change all that much with his memories gone. Maybe he would have formed the same friendships that he made the first time. That didn't matter.

What mattered was that those memories meant something to him. He _liked_ being able to remember late nights spent cuddling and whispering secrets on that bed. He _liked_ being able to remember allowing Roy – Will, sorry – and Kaldur over for the night. He _liked_ being able to remember how they'd refused to sleep in the guest bedroom or living room, and how they'd taken over the bed completely, leading to a gentle wrestling match that only ended when a lamp was broken.

Those memories meant something to the people he loved, too. It mattered to Dick that Wally remembered how they met, how they became friends, how they slowly but surely fell in love. It mattered to the Rogues that Wally remembered how hard they fought for his trust, how good he felt when they finally gained it. It mattered to Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris that Wally remembered the long conversation they had to reconcile their past and to understand the shape of their complicated relationship.

Taking in a deep breath to stop tears from coming out, Wally shook his head again. Honestly, he wasn't here to get sentimental. He needed to leave before Dick came back and found him crying into their pillows.

Clapping his hands together a little bit to get himself back in the moment, Wally carefully tucked the ring into a pocket where it would be secure. With that done, he phased back through the same wall he came in. Then, he was gone, nothing but a breeze showing he'd even been in the apartment.

Wally didn't stop running until he was outside of state lines. He came to an abrupt stop by the side of a rarely used backroad. Where was he _going_? He wanted the ring, but then he wanted to tell Dick that he had his memories back. There had been a plan! Why had he left the apartment, then? Well, okay, that was obvious. As much as Wally loved his boyfriend, he knew that Dick was a very, very paranoid person. Wally had no doubt that if he saw a stranger in his house without any of the alarms going off, he would react in a shoot-first-ask-questions-never sort of manner. And, yes, Wally could dodge whatever Dick threw at him long enough for Dick to realize what was going on, but it would ruin the moment. Wally wanted the moment where he told Dick that his memories were back to be _romantic_. He didn't want to start it with almost-murder.

That brought up a serious problem, though. Wally had literally no idea where Dick was. Or what his phone number was to ask for a meeting. Dick dropped phone numbers like they were last week's trash. Normally, he'd keep Wally updated, but, well. And, again, Wally didn't know what Dick's schedule was. He could be literally anywhere for all that Wally knew.

Wally squinted in thought. Who could he go to in order to find Dick? He wanted to do a reveal to Barry and Iris later and he wanted plenty of time for that because he really, really wanted to get to know his cousins. The same for Roy – _Will_, yikes that was going to be hard to get used to – and Jade and his goddaughter. That meant that he had to contact someone else. The members of the Team would probably know, but… Wally wasn't sure if he knew what any of their addresses were at this point. Like, where were they living? They'd mostly been in college when he'd last been around. Some had been in dorms. Some had been in apartments nearby. Some had still lived in the Cave. Wait, no, the Cave had been destroyed hadn't it? Where were those people living, then?

Wally grimaced. This whole being-dead thing was really inconvenient. Okay, he had to know someone's phone number, right? Well, he knew Bruce Wayne's phone number, but Wally would prefer to use that as a last resort. As friendly as he and Bruce had become in later years, there was always a part of him that was highly anxious around the man. Who else? Kaldur had probably changed his by that point. He lost phones more often than he really should. Wally wasn't sure if Conner even had a phone number. Raquel and Zatanna had, the last time Wally had been around, drifted away from the Team a little after being drafted by the League. There was too big of a chance that Artemis was with Will and Jade. That left… M'gann. Wally knew her number, right? Well, he'd just have to try and see.

After he punched in the number, Wally drummed his fingers against his leg. His lips pursed further and further the longer time went without the phone being answered. He was about to just hang up and go to his backup of calling Bruce when, finally, the phone was answered. M'gann's sweet voice came through the bad speakers of the phone, "_Hello, this is Megan Morse, how can I help you?_"

"Megalicious," Wally answered instantly, talking over her sharp intake of breath, "I need a favor. Several, actually. One of which being that you do not reveal that you know that you're talking to Wally."

There was a quiet pause where Wally could hear the sounds of her shoes clacking against the ground before there was a squeal that nearly blew out Wally's eardrums, "_Wally! You remember!_"

Wally huffed out a quiet laugh, still feeling a pleased thrill at the fact that, yes, he remembered, "Yeah, M'gann, I remember. But you can't tell anyone! I'm going around and telling people separately! So far, the Rogues are the only ones who know and they're under strict orders to not tell anyone."

He could hear the curiosity in M'gann's voice when she asked, "_You haven't told Dick yet?_"

"Heh," Wally laughed awkwardly, "About that. I, uh, don't know where he is? I don't want to wait for him at the apartment because, well, you know how he is." She made a soft noise of commiseration that made Wally feel very validated, "I just don't know where else he would be? Or what he's doing? I'm also not super sure what his phone number is, or I would have called him, even if it would have ruined the dramatics of the moment."

M'gann giggled, "_Well, we can't have that. How about this? I'll give you my and Conner's address. He's home right there. I can let him know that you're coming and the two of you can wait. Once I get out of work, I'll convince Dick to come over. Then, you can surprise him! Oh, it'll be so sweet!_"

Wally grinned, "That would be totally asterous! Uh, do I have to worry about other people? I think I remember Dick saying something about you picking up some kids? I don't know. I'm very confused about a lot of stuff at the moment."

"_Hello, Megan!_" M'gann said. Wally could just imagine the forehead slap that came with the comment. She continued after a moment, "_Of course you would ask about that. They're all at school at the moment, but they don't live there anymore. They moved to live in the Outsiders headquarters over in Hollywood._"

"Outsiders?" Wally asked cautiously. He was just starting to get an understanding of the true scope of what he'd missed in the two years he was gone. He had _so much_ to catch up on. It was… daunting.

M'gann's voice was soft when she responded, "_Why don't you worry about that later? For right now, you've got your memories back and you're about to tell your boyfriend. That's enough to worry about._"

"You're right," Wally said, shaking off his frustration and concerns, "As always. Okay, where am I going?" M'gann gave him the address quickly before signing off. She promised to call Conner as soon as she hung up so she'd be able to warn him before Wally showed up at the house.

For a moment, Wally just gave himself a moment to breath. When it had just been him and the Rogues, this had seemed like an exciting, easy, simple, natural thing. His memories were back. The Rogues were ready to accept him back into the fold because he'd never really been taken out of it. There was nothing complicated about it. Wally didn't feel lost or unincluded or confused.

He'd forgotten, somehow, how much drama superheroes managed to collect in remarkably short periods of times. Based on Ra's al Ghul's theatrics and the knowledge of some sort of new team (apparently – and what kind of name is Outsiders, anyways? That was almost as bad as the Team), Wally could be reasonably sure that the world was going to be ending shortly. Fantastic. Just his luck, as per usual.

Wally collected himself back up again. Right. He was going to do what M'gann said and he was going to completely forget about all that. For the moment, he was just going to focus on the present. He was going to tell his boyfriend that he was alive. They'd spend the night together. Then, tomorrow, he was going to check in with the Rogues quickly and then go on over to Barry's place in the morning. The afternoon would be spent at Roy – _Will's_. Only after that would Wally dive into whatever trouble the superheroes stirred up.

It didn't take him long to get to Conner and M'gann's house. When he did, though, he couldn't help but stop and let out an impressed whistle. Talk about _massive_. They had the acreage and the huge house. This was almost picket-fence worthy. They just needed the 2.5 kids and a dog. Wait, Wally thought. They had Wolf, didn't they? He counted as the dog. And, if he remembered correctly, the random teenagers staying at their place had been some metahuman, some alien, and a cyborg. That counts as 2.5, right? Two kids and then half a kid, half a robot. Was that rude? It probably was. Still, M'gann and Conner were living _the_ stereotypical American cookie-cutter life. Just with aliens. And space-wolf-creatures. And superpowers. That was so bizarre.

During his ruminations, Conner had come out of the house and was leaning against a post on the porch, watching Wally. Feeling stupidly shy, Wally waved. He grinned when Conner waved back. Conner had always simultaneously felt like an older and a younger brother. On the one hand, Wally was pretty sure that Conner had been biologically older when they'd first met, but he'd also had none of the usual social skills that someone his age should have, so it made him seem younger. As time went on, though, and Conner got not only more social skills but also more control over his rage issues, he'd felt more and more like an older brother. Conner had always appreciated the way that Wally had treated him when they'd kidnapped Wally, how he'd explained words and taught Conner about hockey. It was… an interesting relationship. It was a good one. Wally felt just the slightest bit more himself with Conner waving at him.

Conner grinned softly when Wally finally made it to the porch, "Like what you see?"

"You certainly upgraded the living situation, man," Wally responded. They paused for a moment. Wally gave Conner a moment to look him over, to take in the fact that he really was alive. This was the first time Conner had seen him in person in over two years. Wally had gotten used to the painfully vulnerable, painfully sad, painfully hopeful looks people had been giving him since he'd gotten back. He figured he'd just give Conner a moment to take it all in.

Once Conner finally got his fill, he stepped forward, projecting his movements, and pulled Wally into a strong, slightly desperate hug, "I missed you."

Wally felt emotion clog his throat, "Yeah, I missed you too, big guy."

Conner rolled his eyes as he stepped back, "Don't call me that."

"Okay, big guy," Wally agreed easily, shamelessly taking advantage of the way that people were giving him free passes since he was back from the dead. He moved instantly onto Wolf, crouching down to wear Wolf had hunkered down during the greeting, "And how are you, handsome? Looking stunning as usual. You still sure you don't want to come live with Dick and I? You and Brucely get along so well. You'd love it. We'd get a bigger place. I know Dick doesn't want me using a lot of my 'illegal dirty money' to buy a house that has his name on it, but I'm sure he'd make an exception if it meant we got to add you to our family."

"Stop trying to steal Wolf," Conner grumbled, leading the two into the house.

Wally sighed, "Shan't. Wolf wouldn't come with me anyways. He loves you too much. Plus, I just know that Brucely would pout. I _know_ it. And I can't handle Brucely pouting at me. It's almost worst than Dick."

"Speaking of Dick," Conner smirked, "What's this I hear about M'gann and I being the first people to hear about your memories returning? Other than the Rogues, of course. It's nice to know that we rate more highly than even your boyfriend."

"Ha ha," Wally deadpanned, "Don't be coy. It doesn't suit you."

"You sure about that?" Conner grinned.

Wally rolled his eyes, "You sure got mouthy. Not even sure who you learned that from. M'gann doesn't have a mouthy bone in her body. Maybe it was those teenagers you adopted. Has empty nest syndrome hit yet?"

Conner rolled his eyes back, "Please. How can it hit? I swear they not only multiplied but spend more time here now that they moved away. They have a whole huge base to themselves now. Go be free."

"You'd miss them," Wally teased.

"You don't know them," Conner shot back. He dropped his smirk into a rueful grin, "Nah, I do miss having them around all the time. They feel like our kids. They're good. One of them, I think you met his sister. You did meet Tara, right?"

"Yeah," Wally said, eyes widening, "Right! Shoot, I've gotta tell Tara that I've got my memories back. Wait. Wait, I'm confused. Wait, ignore that. Her brother? One of her brothers stayed here?"

Conner's brows had drawn inwards in confusion for a moment before they cleared and his eyes widened, "Right, sorry. Of course, you met Tara. Your memories are back. What am I thinking? Right. Also, I'm guessing no one told you because of everything that's going on. Tara told us that she was a spy for Deathstroke. She's out of there, now. She's been reunited with both her brothers. She can't quite go home yet, but they're figuring that out. I think she's enjoying being a hero anyways."

"Good," Wally said softly, thinking of the fierce little girl he'd adopted as a younger sister, "She deserves it. Her brothers aren't too jealous that I'm her new favorite, are they?"

Conner just snorted in response, "Sure. Anyways, you want a tour? It'll be a little bit before M'gann gets off work. She's going to make sure that she gets here before Dick. I think she wants to spy on your romantic moment."

"You say that like you're not going to do the same thing," Wally accused. Conner just gave him a little guilty smile in response. Wally rolled his eyes, "Alright, give me the grand tour. Awe me with your splendor." Conner laughed and obliged.

They'd gotten to relaxing on the back porch when M'gann finally got home. Wally knew she was there before she even walked through the door because she gently reached out with her mind and nudged against his own. Part of him would always instinctually clamp up at the thought of the intrusion. Sometimes he didn't let her enter and she respected that. This time, though? It had been two years since he'd been given the chance to link with her like this. Almost immediately, he let her in.

Her mind wrapped around his instantly. He'd always said that it felt like she created a hallway between their two minds and they both had to open the doors on either side. Then M'gann could step into his room or he could step into her room or they could just shout across the hallway at each other. Artemis had laughed at him, but M'gann had assured him that she thought it was an interesting interpretation. M'gann spoke into his mind, _Hello, Wally. It's good to see you again_.

He responded, _I'd say the same, but I can't see you_. He felt her tinkling laughter in his head and then she was turning the corner from the house into the back porch, a soft smile on her face. She looked human, with longer hair that suited her a lot better than the short haircut she'd worn when she was still figuring herself out. Wally moved quickly into her offered hug. The Team weren't family like the Rogues were, but they'd been with him on this journey of life almost as long as the Rogues had. They'd been there when he'd needed them, and they'd supported him the whole way.

M'gann put a hand on his cheek when he finally pulled away from the hug, "It is so very good to see you, Wally."

"And you, M'gann," Wally grinned, "You are looking as gorgeous as ever." He winked, causing Conner to let out an aggravated sigh.

"First you try to steal my wolf and now you try to steal my fiancé? Honestly, Wally," Conner mock-groused.

Wally smirked at him before the latter half of his statement caught up to him, "Fiancé? You two are engaged? Congratulations! Where's the ring? Oh, it's beautiful. I'm so happy for you two." The two stood next to each other, Conner's arm wrapped around M'gann's shoulders and her arm reaching back to hold his. They fit perfectly against each other, hips pressed together, expressions unbearably soft as they smiled at each other.

That could have been Dick and Wally. They should have been able to do that, too. Instead, Dick lost a year of his life to grief and couldn't even find true relief when Wally first returned, without memories. That was Wally's fault. Sure, he didn't choose it, but… it was his fault. He wasn't fast enough, and it caused this. It lost them this. Suddenly, the ring burned in his pocket, seeming to mock him. Why would Dick ever say yes? What could he possibly want from Wally? Why would he say yes to the person who abandoned him? Why would he say yes to Wally when Wally was nothing more than a screw-up, a slave that couldn't escape the Light?

He'd forgotten that his mind was still connected to M'gann's until she rushed forward, clasping his hands in hers and speaking earnestly mind-to-mind, _Please don't think that way, Wally. What happened to you was _not_ your fault. Dick would never think that way about you. He loves you _so much_, Wally. Never doubt that. And never doubt that you are worthy of that._

_Thanks, M'gann_, he sent back.

She smiled at him before she released his hands and stepped back into Conner's hold. When she spoke next, it was out loud, "I called Dick once I was almost home. He should be coming through the zeta beam anytime now. He was at Wayne Manor with Bruce, Tim, Alfred, and Jason. They've all been more or less living there since Jason came back."

That was good. Jason deserved that support. He'd been nervous about his return. Wally knew that there were some things that were going to take some resolving (he remembered the way Jason had _flipped_ when Wyynde had said that the Joker was still alive and running around – Jason had been _certain_ that his death would have been the catalyst necessary for Batman to break his code and finally kill the crazy clown) but it was good that they were living together and healing together.

Before M'gann could say anything more, Dick's voice rang out through the house, "M'gann? What did you need? And why did I need to bring Brucely?" His voice got softer as he clearly started talking to the dog, "What's the matter, boy? What's got you so riled up? I – whoa! Hey! Brucely, calm down! Okay, okay, I'll let you off your leash, geez. Here's to hoping M'gann and Conner don't mind."

Wally's breath caught in his throat. This was it. He was finally getting to see Dick again. And yeah, sure, Wally had technically seen him – more than once, even. But it hadn't been _real_. Wally hadn't _remembered_. It hadn't been the same. This was the real deal. This was the moment that mattered.

Brucely turned the corner first, claws scattering against the floor as he threw himself out of the door and into Wally. Somehow not prepared for that reaction, Wally went down hard, gasping out a little breath as Brucely buried him in dog kisses. Wally threw his arms around his dog, snuggling in close and feeling another part of himself slot into place.

It took another couple of seconds before the reason for this whole meeting came into view.

For a moment, there was just the two of them. Their eyes locked across the distance between them. Dick froze in the doorway, something painful cutting across his face at the sight of Wally and Brucely tangled together like they were mock-wrestling the way they always used to.

Wally gave Dick his most charming smile, "Hey babe, remember me?"

Dick sobbed out a laugh, taking a half-step forward before he froze again. Carefully, Wally detangled himself from Brucely, only vaguely noting the way Conner came forward to hold Brucely back during their reunion. Dick's voice was shaky when Wally finally got close enough to clasp their hands together and kiss Dick's knuckles, one by one, "You remember?"

"I don't know how I ever forgot," Wally said, two-parts honesty, one-part charm.

Dick let out a much purer laugh, dropping his forehead to rest against Wally's, "You jerk. You left me. You – I love you, Wally. I love you so much. I missed you. I love you. I'm so glad you're back."

Any words that Wally might have planned were washed away by the raw emotion in Dick's voice. Wally managed to push through the lump in his throat and say, "I love you, Dick. I love you more than anything."

"Don't leave," Dick said, desperate. The words sounded like they were torn out of him, laid out between them by his normally hidden vulnerable side.

Wally grasped them, clasped them to his heart, and got down on one knee. Tears were pooling in Dick's eyes by the time Wally managed pull out the ring and look up at him and ask, "Richard John Grayson, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Dick answered, immediate, vehement. It was clearly he'd been waiting to say yes for as long as Wally had been waiting to ask. Wally surged to his feet, pushing the ring onto Dick's finger as he kissed his _fiancé_ passionately. When they pulled away, Dick blinked at the ring on his finger, "Did you break into my apartment to steal this?"

Wally grinned, "Would it be a proper proposal from me if there hadn't been some sort of theft in the process?"

Dick beamed back, "Absolutely not." He dragged Wally over for another kiss.

That must have been the breaking point because M'gann squealed from next to them, causing Conner to jolt and grab at this ear with a wince. M'gann rushed forward and engulfed the two of them in a hug, "That was so cute! And so romantic!"

Conner smiled at them, "Congratulations, you two."

Dick laughed, a couple tears rushing down his cheeks, "Thank you. Thanks for setting this up, too."

M'gann grinned, "We didn't. Not really. Wally just said that he wanted to tell you that he'd gotten his memories back. He did _not_ tell us that he was going to propose. Which! Artemis is going to be _furious_ that she missed it. Kaldur and Will, too."

"Okay," Wally said, turning slightly as M'gann went back to stand next to Conner. He plastered himself against Dick's side and grabbed his hand, running his thumb over the side of the hand, "I have a question about that. Since when does he go by Will? I know you guys introduced him as Will, but my brain says his name is Roy. Is that wrong? Do I have to worry about faulty memories?"

"No," Dick laughed, "Since we recovered the original Roy, Will decided that he'd pick a new name, one of his own. Partially so things were less confusing and partially because it helped him settle with the fact that he's a clone."

"I can deal with that," Wally decided.

Dick pressed the sides of their heads together briefly in recrimination, "You have to. So, who all knows? About your memories?"

"Other than the Rogues," Wally said, "You're looking at them."

"So," Dick began, "Since the Rogues would have had to authorize this field trip for you to be here, I'm assuming no one will come looking for you, wanting quality Wally time at all this night." His voice had dropped to something a little huskier.

"I'm all yours," Wally purred.

M'gann quickly dropped the mind link that Wally had honestly forgotten about, blushing, "Alright, that's enough of that. You two are sitting down for a lovely dinner with us first. We're having a double date to celebrate Wally's memories and your engagement. Then you two can go do – whatever it is you want to do."

"Sound good?" Dick asked, looking at Wally with adoration, hearts in his eyes.

Wally pressed another kiss to his lips just because he could, and then another to his temple before answering, "Sounds perfect."

M'gann smiled at them before they all moved to the kitchen to find something to order in.

BBBBBB

Bruce sighed as he stalked through the halls of the Watchtower. He knew that Jason was going to get to a point where all the attention was going to smother him rather than amuse him, but for the moment, he was tolerating it. Bruce thought that might have something to do with the fact that Jason likely hadn't been alone for several months at the very least. He couldn't say what it had been like for all the years he'd been missing. Jason was rather tight-lipped about what he had suffered through. All of that was why Bruce would rather be at his home with Jason, especially since he knew that Dick had been pulled away at around the same time.

Jason and Tim got on well enough, but… that was just in front of Bruce. Bruce didn't want to know what they were like when he wasn't there to mediate.

That was why he was scowling as he skulked through the hallways towards where Barry had asked to meet him. At least the newer heroes scuttling out of his way was slightly amusing. Bruce had always been entertained by the reputation Batman held around the hero circles. The newer superheroes that were there at that moment had likely thought that they were safe from ever running into Batman again once he quit. Joke's on them. They should be prepared for anything.

He finally made it to the lab where Barry was pacing at normal speed, wringing his hands as he muttered to himself, too quietly and quickly for Bruce to decipher. Bruce took extra enjoyment from the way Barry jumped when Bruce growled, "What am I here for?"

"Jeez, Bats," Barry said, holding a hand to his heart, "I swear, one of these days, I'm going to actually get you bells. You're going to kill one of the newbies, sneaking up like that."

"Flash," Bruce growled, trying to draw him back on topic. The quicker Barry told him what was going on, the quicker Bruce could leave and go back to the son he'd thought he lost.

Barry swallowed, biting his lip softly before leading with, "I've been looking through databases to try to identify Damian's father like you asked me to. I – I found his father."

Bruce sighed, "If you really took me away from my family for _this_ -,"

Barry actually interrupted him, speaking louder to make sure Bruce couldn't continue, "It's you, Bruce. You're the father."

Bruce fell still, pieces collapsing into place in his mind. He remembered that night. He remembered being seduced by Talia al Ghul. He remembered thinking that he could use that to his advantage. He remembered nothing much after that. He'd known, the next morning, that he'd been drugged, and that Talia had had her way with him, but… he didn't remember much of the night. He… no.

No, this couldn't be right. This absolutely could not. That little kid that Talia cradled and took such gentle care of could not be his. Damian could not be a Wayne.

Except… there was a picture of the kid on the file that Barry had open, the one that had the paternity test clearly shown. He could see hints of himself in that face. He could certainly see the proof in the genetics.

He had a son. He had an actual, biological son. Damian wasn't Damian al Ghul. He was Damian Wayne.

Bruce collapsed into a nearby chair and dropped his face in his hands. Barry was there in an instant, talking a mile a minute and fluttering around.

In a minute, Bruce would allow himself to be elated. In a minute, he would allow himself to panic. In a minute, he would allow himself to feel the fear of trying to actually raise a child. In a minute, he would allow himself to be stressed at the thought of getting the kid away from Talia and her way of life.

For the moment, though, Bruce was just going to be grateful that they found the kid, that the world gave him this chance. Bruce had been a parent many times before. He would never, ever stop wanting to be a parent again.

For the moment, Bruce was just going to fiercely, fully, powerfully love his _son_.

WWWWWW

Dinner went _flawlessly_. It was everything Wally had dreamed of when he'd been stuck in those labs, when he'd been chained to a wall for days at end, when he'd been forced to kill a man. It was everything he'd wanted when he'd been alone and scared and desperate for some sense of familiarity in a completely unfamiliar world.

The four of them chatted and laughed and caught up. They talked about very superficial things, comparatively, but important ones. Wally learned what each of them had been doing with themselves. He got milestones and exciting events. He learned about new interests and hobbies and fun facts. Nothing truly serious was brought up. It was, like M'gann had suggested, a night completely devoid of worries and just focusing on _them_. It was perfect.

Then there was a knock on the door. Wally couldn't help the way he tensed, fingers spasming against Dick's as he fixed wild eyes on the direction of the front door, "Were you expecting anyone?"

Conner smiled reassuringly, "It's alright, Wally. It's just Brion and Tara. I don't know why they're here, but I can send them away if you like."

They all turned to Wally, leaving the decision entirely up to him. He weighed the options in his head, squeezing Dick's hand as he thought. In the end, though, these were three heroes faced with two other heroes coming to their door unannounced. There was only one answer he could give, "You can go ahead and let them in. It might be something important."

Conner smiled at him again before going to the front door. They could all hear as he opened it and asked, "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

There was a scowl in his voice when a kid – presumably Brion – answered, "How am I supposed to know? All I know is that Gregor called us and told us that we must go to your house immediately. He said that it was important but that we should not bring our suits."

There was clear confusion in Conner's voice when he asked, "Gregor? King Gregor wanted you to come here?"

"Did – did you not ask for us?" Tara asked. Wally ached to gather her up in a hug and make sure she was alright. He was so, so, so proud of her for choosing the heroes. He wanted to tell her that.

Dick's eyes suddenly went wide. He stood up, ducking down briefly to kiss Wally's forehead and squeeze his hand reassuringly, before walking quickly out of the room. M'gann and Wally sent each other curious glances, but didn't move, content to wait the situation out. Brion's voice rang out into the quiet, "Dick? What are you doing here? Did Gregor send you here as well?"

"No," Dick said, something like laughter in his voice, "I think Gregor is meddling. Possibly the Rogues as well. Why don't you guys come on in?" He didn't say anything more, causing Brion to let out a sharp noise of frustration.

Wally raised an eyebrow at M'gann. She shrugged. They waited until the others came around the corner. Tara froze when she saw Wally sitting there. He offered a tentative smile and a wave. She un-tensed, walking forward softly. Brion remained in the doorway, scowling at Wally, "What is going on here?"

Dick smirked, "I think the Rogues knew that Wally would want to see Tara, so they told King Gregor about where Wally is so he could manipulate you two into coming to visit because he likely knew that Tara wanted to come visit Wally. He also probably wanted Wally to meet Brion."

Wally squinted at his boyfri – his _fiancé _– suspiciously, "Who is King Gregor?"

Dick squinted back at him, "The king of Markovia?"

"Uh," Wally said, "Wasn't his name Viktor or something? Isn't that what you said, Tara? I thought your brother was Gregor."

Tara covered her mouth with her hands, eyes going wide and teary, "You remember?"

Wally jolted, just remembering that Tara didn't know, "Totally should have led with that." He gave her a soft smile, "Yeah, Tara, I remember."

She rushed up to him and threw herself into his arms. She pounded him once on the chest, ignoring the way his breath wheezed out of him in response. She snuggled in closer, "You _jerk_. Of _course_, you should have led with that! I'd say that your intelligence didn't come back with your memories, but I doubt you ever _had_ intelligence in the first place."

Wally laughed, delighted, "Would you believe that one of the first things Dick did was call me a jerk, too? I'm surrounded by bullies, honestly. Woe is me."

"Shut up," Tara muttered, clearly not meaning a word she said.

Wally pulled her in tighter, "Missed you too." She just sniffled in response.

Dick smiled at the two of them, "Jeez, I wouldn't have let you in if I knew you were going to steal my boyfriend – or, uh, fiancé – Tara."

"Fiancé?" Brion asked sharply. Tara lifted her head from Wally's chest curiously.

Dick beamed at them, "Yep! See? Here's the ring! He just asked me tonight."

"Really?" Tara asked, "I would have thought that you would have asked him. You had the ring and called him your fiancé earlier."

Wally grinned as Dick flushed bright red, "Aw, babe, that's so romantic. For your information, Tara, I not only ambushed him, but I also stole the ring back. He didn't even get a chance. I guess he's just -,"

Dick interrupted him with a low groan, "Please don't."

"- too slow," Wally finished, completely unrepentant. It was a speedster _legacy_ to use dumb speed puns. It was a _legacy_. Tara giggled.

It was Brion who broke the moment, stalking over to the table and staring down at Wally, "So, you are this supervillain that the others have been talking about. The one that they have been searching for instead of fighting against the Light."

"Wow," Wally breathed under his breath, not entirely prepared for that level of hostility.

Tara leaned back and hissed, "_Brion_! Why would you say that?"

"It is true!" Brion shouted back, "Ever since they learned that _he_ was alive, all of the adults have been completely distracted!"

Dick's eyes blazed and he strode forward, "Distracted? Like how distracted you were while looking for Tara?"

"Enough!" Wally said before they could devolve even further, "I just got my memories back. The last thing I want to see is an argument. Prince Brion, I don't entirely know what's going on right now, if I'm being honest. What I do know, however, is that what you're talking about? It's already happened. It's in the past. There is zero point in arguing about it at the moment. Now, do you have a problem with Dick and the others searching for someone they care about or do you have a problem with the fact that all these heroes and your sister care about a supervillain?"

Brion tensed. He glanced around, clearly looking for help. No one offered it, though. They just stared at him, as curious as Wally was. For a moment, it looked like Brion was going to puff back up again and start another tirade, but then he looked at Tara's young, tired face and he calmed down again, "It was supervillains who took Tara from me."

"It was those same supervillains who experimented on me for over a year before making me into a slave and forcing me to commit acts I wouldn't have normally committed before experimenting on me again," Wally returned evenly.

Brion nodded in acknowledgement, but sent back, "The others say that I should not be as offended by your criminal status because you are a Rogue and therefore not as criminal as you could be. They say that Rogues stay on the lighter side of grey, but I am not convinced."

"That's the nicest thing a hero has ever said to me," Wally said, putting a hand to his chest, "Do you know how offensive it is when heroes say that Rogues don't really count as supervillains? I worked for that status. Do you know how many places I've robbed? The answer is a lot. Just because we don't kill or do human trafficking or drug trafficking and just because we try to avoid kidnapping and, if we do kidnap, we won't kidnap kids and just because we try to avoid hurting women and children unless they're superheroes doesn't mean we're any less of supervillains. We still steal stuff! I _have_ kidnapped people before! I've even tried to take over a city once or twice!" By the end of his rant, Wally was scowling, and Dick was looking at him like he hung the moon and the stars. Conner and M'gann were laughing at him.

Brion was staring at him like he was some strange zoo animal, though. He opened his mouth a few times before finally saying, "I did not know the Rogues had those boundaries."

Dick added 'helpfully,' "They have also done a lot of work to save the world on several occasions. If they think that the world is in danger, they'll protect it. When the world was split into two worlds – an adult and a child world – the Rogues all helped people get to safety. When the MFDs were destroying the Earth, the Rogues helped deal with damage control. You know how much Wally helped with that situation. Those are only two examples."

"You make me sound no better than casual superhero, Dick," Wally whined. Tara started laughing at him, too.

Dick smirked at him, "Jade is more of a supervillain than you and she's technically a hero."

"Antihero," Wally pouted. Just because Jade still killed people didn't mean that he was any less of a supervillain.

Brion spoke again, sounding significantly calmer, "I see. Perhaps I misjudged you, Wally. I should not have judged without getting all the facts. I am… working on that."

"No," Wally drew out, flopping against the back of chair, "I _know_ that tone of voice. Now you think that I'm a 'light grey' villain, too. I'm a legitimate supervillain! Respect me!" That was what it took to send Dick into hysterics. He cackled as he leaned against the wall as if it were the only thing holding him up. Wally sighed.

M'gann struggled to get her laughter under control, offering, "We have yet to eat dessert and there is plenty of it. Would you two like to join us? We were planning on watching a movie afterwards."

Tara glanced over at Brion, clearly pleading with him to say yes. Brion stared at Wally for another long moment before he offered a hesitant smile, "Yes, we would like that."

VVVVVV

Vandal tapped his fingers against the armrest of the seat he was in. Luthor's report was interesting. Queen Bee's follow-up report, detailing Luthor's capture, was _less_ interesting. Vandal would have to deal with that at some point. Luthor had been a convenient ally and Vandal could say with certainty that some of Luthor's plans had been necessary for the Light to be where it was today. Still, at this stage, if Luthor was still making mistakes because of his obsession with that boy, then he was useless. Vandal could no longer waste time on him.

Perhaps, though, Vandal could do something for him. It was Luthor who brought that boy's situation to Vandal's notice. For most of the boy's life, he was nothing other than a key to escalating Luthor's Everyman Project. At this point, though? He was Vandal's key to winning this war, to defeating Darkseid once and for all.

Darkseid was getting closer and closer to the Anti-Life Equation every day. Vandal knew that the _second_ that happened, Darkseid would have no further use for the arrangement they'd made. The only reason he had spared them in the first place was Desaad's supposition that the key to the Anti-Life Equation was to be found within a human mind. A _meta_human mind. Vandal was certain the key was that girl who had merged with the Motherbox, but he didn't know. He wasn't going to test it out, either. Darkseid was watching him too closely. All he could do was make sure that the girl and her protectors were distracted by the Light's actions and the metahuman trafficking rings. Hopefully, staying there would keep her out of the way and hidden.

Now that Vandal had this new information, he could finish his plan. If Granny Goodness and Darkseid failed to understand Halo's importance in time, then Vandal would be able to take down Darkseid once and for all.


	26. Chapter 26

WWWWWW

Wally rung his hands nervously. He couldn't quite get rid of the Rogue drama streak he had and wanted to surprise his aunt and uncle, but now he was nervous. Dick had told him that Grandpa Jay and Grandma Joan were going to be there, too. That meant those two, Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, Bart, and his two baby cousins were all going to be there. Somehow this was more nerve-wracking than proposing to Dick.

Wally shook his head. He was being ridiculous. These guys were family. They were _speedster_ family which was extra important. Wally's lips curved up as he thought of Aunt Iris and Grandma Joan. They'd be the only non-speedsters in the house since, apparently, the twins had been born with superspeed. Wally had always respected the two women for that. It took a lot of effort and responsibility and understanding to just be a normal superhero spouse and/or parent. It was a whole other thing when super speed was added in.

Frowning to himself, Wally focused. All he was doing was distracting himself. He needed to man up and knock on the door already. He took a deep breath in and held it there for a second. When he was ready, he released the breath in one big whoosh and knocked on the door. He tried to ignore how much his hands were shaking.

Finally, though, the door opened. Aunt Iris was looking over her shoulder even as she spoke, "Hi, we're not really looking to buy anything at the moment. We've got a family reuni… on…" Her mouth dropped open.

Wally grinned, "A family reunion? And I wasn't invited. I'm _hurt_, Aunt I."

He didn't get any warning before she squealed and threw herself into his arms. Wally laughed, spinning her around and burying his face into the crook of her neck. She laughed, tightening her arms around him. He didn't get a chance to say anything before Uncle Barry was walking to the door, a confused frown on his face, "Iris? What's going on?" He cut off with a choke when he saw just who was at his door.

Barry laughed out loud, bright and warm and _happy_, "Wally!"

His call brought the rest of the family to the door. Bart and Jay zoomed over there, both holding a baby. Joan followed at a more sedate pace. Because of the babies, though, Grandma Joan was the first to hug Wally after Aunt Iris, literally elbowing Barry out of the way. Barry pouted, but was smart enough to not say anything. When Joan was done with her hug, she pulled back and held Wally with a hand on each bicep, "Look at you! It's about time you showed up! You've been running around free for how long, now? And you're just now coming to visit? Honestly. What if Jay and I hadn't been here? Would you have just waited to come see us?"

"Dick told me that you guys were going to be here. Otherwise, I would have had to convince you guys to come over," Wally explained patiently before he grinned impishly, "Besides, like I told Aunt I, you guys were the ones who didn't invite me over to the family reunion."

"Don't you get smart with me," Grandma Joan warned, eyes narrowed, but crinkled in the corners the way they always got when she was trying not to smile.

Wally put a hand dramatically to his chest, "What? Do I not get a free pass after dying? Everyone else is giving me a free pass."

Barry gave an awkward, choked off laugh, "Too soon, buddy. Come on, let's get you into the house and sitting down. We always have extra, so you know we've got enough of brunch leftover for another speedster." He started herding his family inside, wrapping one arm around Wally's shoulders as he did so. It wasn't until they were inside that Barry looked back over to him and asked, "Everyone else? Who all knows that you have your memories back? If we're the last ones, I'm going to be very disappointed."

Bart snickered, "I doubt you're even capable of being disappointed with him right now." He gave Wally a fist bump once he was able to set the baby down without worrying about it running out the open door.

Wally grinned, "Nah, you guys are relatively high up there. I told the Rogues first, obviously. Then I told Dick. Well, okay, I told M'gann who told Conner and _then_ told Dick because I didn't know how to get in contact with Dick. And then the Rogues apparently told King Gregor? Since they know the king of Markovia for some reason. And he told Tara and Brion to go over to M'gann and Conner's, so they know. I'm pretty sure that Dick is telling the Bat fam at the moment, too. But otherwise. You're the first ones."

"You told so many other people first!" Barry shrieked. Iris started laughing at him.

"Not my fault!" Wally defended, "It was just supposed to be Rouges, Dick, then you, promise!"

"I'm hurt that you told your boyfriend before you told your Flash fam, dude," Bart said, copying Wally's move from earlier and splaying his hand over his heart.

"Fiancé," Wally corrected absently.

Joan practically squealed, "_Fiancé_? He proposed?"

"I proposed, actually," Wally preened, "I stole the ring back from our apartment and then got M'gann and Conner to lure him to their house so I could surprise him and propose."

"That's so romantic," Iris sighed, pulling Wally in for another hug. He grinned and held her as tight as he could.

Jay was the next to hug him, clapping him on the shoulder before dragging him in for a proper hug, "Congratulations. On the memories and the engagement. I'm so happy you're finally home."

"Me too," Wally admitted, allowing himself to melt into the hug and the open, relaxed feeling of the house.

"Sit down, sit down," Barry pressed, "If you've run from M'gann and Conner's, then I'm sure you're hungry. Iris and I will go grab you some stuff."

"Oh, you don't have -," Wally cut himself off when he realized that they'd already left the room. He groaned and finished, "To. Ah, well. More food for me, I guess." He startled slightly when he felt something tap his toe. He leaned over and found a baby poking curiously at his shoe. Wally felt his lips soften into a gentle smile as he reached over and plucked the baby up, swinging it up and around the way he always would do with Damian. When the baby was laughing excitedly, he tucked it into the typical baby-holding pose, wiggling a finger above chubby hands. He looked up to see the other three staring at him in slight surprise. He blushed a little bit, "Oh, yeah. I, uh, have been spending a lot of quality time with a baby. I've got some experience. Speaking of, what are their names?"

Bart beamed at him, "That's Aunt Dawn you're holding, and this is Dad!"

"Bart! Stop calling them that! It's weird!" Aunt Iris called from the kitchen.

"Oops," Bart winced, "Habit, sorry."

"You're fine," Wally laughed, "So, Dawn and…"

"Don," Joan answered, easily lifting Don into her lap. Wally waved at him and smiled when Don waved back.

Iris and Barry came into the kitchen shortly after that. They both paused to smile at the scene. Iris spoke threw a couple happy tears, "Looks like you're getting along great with your cousins."

Wally grinned, "How long do you think before I convince them to join the Rogues?" Barry rolled his eyes and sighed.

Bart pouted, "How come you haven't tried converting me, yet? I heard from Tara that you even tried to do some light conversion with her."

Wally winked, "Oh, don't worry. I'm just being sneakier with you because you are never not surrounded with other people. Also, dude, this is, like, our fifth conversation or something like that. You gotta give me some time, man."

"Are you going to try to convert your goddaughter, too?" Jay asked, clearly amused.

Wally shuddered dramatically, "Absolutely not. Jade would _kill_ me. I mean that very, very literally. And Will wouldn't do a thing to stop it because he lives and dies by Jade's orders. Plus, I think I heard that Artemis lives with them, right? She would also kill me." Wally sighed, "Plus, I'm already working on so many. I won't let Tara be a lost cause yet. The Rogues already seem to have somewhat convinced Gregor or whatever, but that means that I still need to work on both Tara and Brion. And then I'm converting Bart, Don, and Dawn. Plus, I've got Damian to convert. Then again, with his mother, it shouldn't be a matter of converting him into a supervillain. It should be a matter of converting him into a _decent_ one."

Bart snorted before he could stop himself, "Please, like his father would ever let you."

"His father? You found the dad?" Wally perked up. Damian had really grown on him, the little rascal.

Barry sighed, "Bart, c'mon. You aren't supposed to tell anyone."

"Now I really have to know," Wally said, leaning forward as far as he could with a burbling baby in his arms, "Come _onnnnnn_. You can't just _say_ something like that and not _tell_ me." He paused before pointing out, "I'll find out either way, you know."

Barry sighed and put his head in his hands, "I'm pointing the father to you when he finds out that you know. I'll say that you forced me into giving you the information with your supervillain ways. It's… it's Batman, Wally. Bruce."

Wally's jaw dropped open, "Seriously? For real?" He cackled, "That's amazing! Dude! That means that he's my, uh… brother-in-law? Or, will be, once I marry Dick. That's the right word, right? Oh man! Bruce can't be mad at me at all! Not only did I come back from the dead and make his first son super happy, but I also brought a dead son and a baby son back with me. How awesome am I? I should be getting an award. I should be getting _paid_. Do you think I can convince Bruce to pay me?"

Iris stifled a laugh against her palm, "_I_ would pay just to see you ask."

"You're laughing at me," Wally pouted. Iris laughed uproariously in response. Wally rolled his eyes. Joan, snickering alongside Iris like the _traitor_ she was, traded out one twin for the other so Wally got a chance to hold Don. The little guy had settled down by that point and was almost napping, eyes shuttering closed rapidly as he struggled to stay awake.

For a moment, all Wally could do was look at the baby in his arms. He didn't know how old the baby was. He didn't know the kid's birthday. He didn't know how much of the kid's life he'd missed. This was his _cousin_. This was his adorable, sweet, speedster cousin and it was the first time Wally was meeting him. It… it wasn't fair. It wasn't right. What did Wally do that he got this? What horrible deed had he committed that lead to this? Two years dead. Two years of his loved ones' lives that he missed. Wally hadn't done anything worth that. He'd… he'd killed a man. He _knew_ that. He hadn't come to terms with that yet – hadn't had the time to – but it was a horrible thing that he had done. But that had happened after he had already missed a chunk of time, after he was already _suffering_.

Wally blinked when he felt himself being shaken roughly. Instinctually, he tightened his hold on Don, trying to draw him closer to protect him. Wally blinked again when he realized that his hands were empty. He frowned and looked back up. Barry was staring at him, face inches away. It was his hands that were on Wally's shoulders. They weren't shaking him anymore, but it was clear that Barry was tempted to do it. Wally frowned again, "Where did Don go? Don't tell me he's that fast already."

Barry frowned in concern, placing the back of his hand against Wally's forehead, "Kiddo, you've been out of it for over a half an hour. It took us a while to realize you were non-responsive instead of just thinking. We've been trying to wake you since then." He paused before he started muttering to himself, "No temperature, just like the reports said. Proper pupil response. Short time compared to listed known blackouts."

Wally pulled himself back and away from Barry, jaw clenching. This was the first blackout he'd had since he'd gotten his memories back. It was probably stupid of him to have thought that maybe they'd gone away when his memories came back, but he hadn't been able to help it. Everything had been going so perfectly. The last thing he'd wanted to think about was this problem coming back to ruin him. Wally offered the group a wobbly smile, "I guess I'm not completely back, yet."

"We're going to fix this," Barry promised, eyes concerned, but hopeful, "I promise you."

"We've actually made a lot of progress researching the issue," Bart piped up, looking nervous and relieved, "The Rogues already made Barry promise to hand the research over to you so you could go over it and offer more information or ideas. This is even better, though! With your memories back, we can go over this in a lot more detail. We should set up a time where you, Barry, me, and Jai – uh, the, uh Blue Beetle can meet."

"I know that the Blue Beetle is a kid named Jaime," Wally said drily, eyebrows up.

Bart coughed out a laugh, "Heh, yeah, that makes sense. With who you were dating. And with, like, other stuff. It makes sense." Wally made sure his eyebrows went up further. Bart blushed, "Moving on! It would be totally crash if we could do a research day or something relatively soon. We might be getting some more information in on Luthor's past research and all that, too, so you can go over that with us. If you want to, I guess. I know you probably want to settle back in with the Rogues."

Wally rolled his eyes, "Please. I can read the room. Between Ra's al Ghul and you heroes, I can tell that the world is practically ending. I'll be sticking around a little bit. Not to, like, help people or be a hero or anything! Just to satisfy my curiosity!"

"The world's not ending!" Barry argued.

Joan laughed, "With you three heroes, the world is _always_ ending."

"Right?" Wally asked, "That's what I try to tell people. Heroes are so dramatic and they're always getting stuck in weird, world-ending situations. It's exhausting. And it keeps pulling away from date-night. Heists don't pull _me_ away from date night. Anyways," he said before they started the familiar friendly argument all over again, "Yes, we can set up a date to do research. Have you gotten anything from Luthor yet? He said that he knew where I was in those missing six months. I'm pretty sure that's the key to the blackouts."

Barry winced, "Do we really need to bring this up now?" Wally didn't say anything, resisting the urge to shrink back a little bit at the disappointment in Barry's voice. Barry noticed, wincing again, before admitting, "No, we haven't gotten anything from Luthor _directly_. We did, however, manage to get a ton of research and proof of evil deeds from his office. The police wanted to keep the information from us even though we're holding Luthor for them, but eventually they were convinced to give us copies since it will help us close up some of our investigations. Though, they've forbidden us from sharing it with heroes that aren't in the Justice League anymore, like Batman or whatever."

Wally squinted, "I thought Bruce led the Justice League, how did he quit?"

Barry blinked, "Oh, no. That's, uh, changed. Wonder Woman and Aquaman run the Justice League now. Except Aquaman is now Kaldur."

Wally sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. He spoke softly, mostly to himself, "That's the real problem with heroes. So much happens so fast. I feel like I've missed out on lifetimes instead of two years." Wally let out a bitter laugh, "I feel like I can't catch up."

It was Iris who spoke first. She dropped down onto her knees in front of him and held his hands in hers, "Wally. It doesn't matter how much time you lost with us. That will _never_ matter. You are family, in every possible way. We will make sure you stay updated and we will catch you up on every single thing you missed. We'll go through it chronologically, day by day if we have to, okay? I promise you; you are not going to be left out of this. You won't ever be alone again. I mean that."

Wally wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that he'd feel like he was back on track again. He wanted to believe that he'd stop being so confused. He wanted to believe that it would stop hurting so much to feel two years worth of inside jokes that he couldn't share. He wanted that.

But getting that, feeling that, meant trusting. And trust was never a strong suit of his. It wasn't as bad with the Rogues. They filled him in on a couple anniversaries or celebrations and they gave him a run-down of heists and who spent how long in which prison. There wasn't any of this other complicated stuff. It wasn't world-ending, life-changing decision after decision.

And in the end, he had trusted heroes once and that didn't work out as well for him as he wanted.

So, he didn't say that he believed her. He didn't say okay. Instead, he just asked, "Do you think my food got cold in the time that I was blacked-out?"

TTTTTT

Tara knew she shouldn't be listening in on conversations anymore. Now that she was no longer a spy for the Light, she should trust her team and expect them to tell her things as they came. But, no matter how short of a time she was a spy, the instinct was ingrained in her. She felt the most safe when she knew what was going on with everyone. Especially when so many people on this team, on _all_ the teams, kept secrets. She could tell that Dick was trying to be better about that. He had come clean about many things with everyone that one day. Of course, he kept the secret of Batman's organization, but that was understandable. Batman was, apparently, something like Dick's father. It would be hard to betray him, especially when one agreed with his opinions. But that had come to light at this point as well.

It was the others that Tara did not trust to not be keeping secrets. Violet was quickly spiraling, skipping school and acting out. She was withdrawn and angry at times. It worried Tara, especially when she saw how it affected Violet and Brion's relationship. Brion himself was having his own issues that he would not share with others. Tara suspected it had to do with how long they were being stopped from re-entering their own country. As much as Tara wanted to go home, it wasn't as bad for her. She had waited years already to go home. A couple more months weren't going to break her. Besides, she was terrified of the reaction of the public once they found out where she had gone and what she had been doing.

Tara shook her head. That wasn't important. None of that was. What _was_ important was Helga. She had been such a wonderful, supportive figure in their lives since all of this came to be. She had made mistakes, certainly, but she was there for them when it mattered. Except, recently, she had been acting… _off_.

It wasn't anything explicitly obvious. It was little things like the way she would purse her lips when M'gann and Conner or Artemis, Will, and Jade would call Brion or Tara or the others their children. Things like the stress lines deepening around her eyes. Things like the way she would sometimes have private conversations with the other kids that would leave them drawn or frightened. Not of Helga, but of whatever she said to that. There was her twitchy attitude on the night when Dick and Bruce admitted their manipulations. Tara, for a brief moment, hadn't felt safe with Helga's eyes on her. She'd been almost glad that she was down in the thick of things. Then there were things like the way she kept claiming she had headaches but actually went into her room to call someone on the phone.

Just like she was doing at that very moment.

That was why Tara was carefully listening in on the conversation. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she just prayed that none of the other Outsiders would come back or that Jefferson wouldn't come for a visit. She just wanted to hear this conversation. If it was something innocent, then she'd let it go. She'd go back to trusting Helga completely again. Easy, simple.

If it wasn't something simple, though… Tara didn't know what she would do. A part of her wanted to go to Wally with the information even though that was ridiculous. Wally _was_ a supervillain. There was nothing he was going to be able to do with the information. By all rights, Tara _should_ go to Garfield with any information she might get. He was her team leader and the owner of their base. He was definitely the person to go to. It was just… Tara felt _awkward_ reporting to a teenager. She knew it was easier for the rest because they had _always_ been on teams of teenagers, reporting to teenagers, but it wasn't like that with Tara. She had been reporting straight to Deathstroke, a legendary (old) assassin. There hadn't really even been any other teenagers anywhere around her. The first time she'd seen a teenager working near her since she was captured was when she'd spent that time in the metahuman trafficking site before Dick's group rescued her.

Tara shook her head again. She was being ridiculous. This was _Helga_. There wouldn't _be_ anything to report, so she didn't have to worry about who she was going to report it to. Tara frowned as she realized she'd lost the train of the conversation. At the last second, she started up a recording device on her phone and pressed it to the door, hoping that it would manage to hear the words.

Helga was speaking when Tara managed to get the recording app turned on, "I have tried multiple times to get myself put on the team that is researching Momentum. I don't know why the three of them are so against me joining. I'm the only one of them who's known to be a scientist who focuses on studying metahuman abilities."

Tara frowned. Why on earth would Helga be talking to someone about Wally? Was it Jefferson that she was talking to?

Helga started speaking again, "How would I know?... Yes, _that_ would be very easy to bring up in conversation. There's no _reason_ for me to want to see Momentum, especially if I'm not on the research team…. I – yes. I understand."

There was a long pause as whoever was on the other end of the phone call spoke. Tara felt her heart pound even faster in her chest. There was something off about this. She could rationalize it away as Helga talking to Jefferson at first, but not anymore. That last comment, the way Helga said, "I understand," wasn't right. It was much more subservient than anything Tara had seen between Helga and Jefferson. There was also less giggling and sappy comments and little "I'm worried about the kids" statements being dropped.

When Helga spoke again, it was even quieter. Tara prayed that her phone would pick up the furious whispers as Helga said, "You told me that I would get them back! You said that I could have them if I did this!... I'm not working for free…. Maybe I'll find a better offer with someone else!" There was a slamming sound as Helga probably set down the phone she was using. Then there was a clattering of heels. It sounded like Helga was stalking towards the door.

Tara paled and glanced around desperately. She was in an open-spaced hallway. There was no way she'd get away fast enough to not be seen when Helga opened the door. Desperately, Tara grabbed one of the pockets full of rocks that Dick had suggested she start carrying around. She manipulated the rocks to dig into the wall and used those to climb, up, up, and away to the ceiling. There, she tried to stifle her breath as Helga walked out the door.

Helga frowned once she got there, glancing around suspiciously. In the end, though, she left. Tara felt the air whoosh out of her in relief. She didn't know what that phone call had been about. Well, obviously it had been about Wally, but there wasn't enough other information to tell her what that _meant_. Helga hadn't mentioned anything about what she wanted with Wally. Or who she was working for.

Heart in her throat, Tara climbed back down and pulled out her own phone. She didn't entirely know who she should go to, yet. Instead of having to make that decision, Tara texted Garfield and Dick, asking them both to meet her. She was in a team now. She might have a hard time trusting that and it might be weird for her to report to a teenager, but she was working on it. And she had a network to support her through that journey.

Tara felt some of the tension bleed out of her. It was going to be okay. Her teammates would help.

WWWWWW

Wally was somehow more nervous for this reunion than the one with the Flash fam. Which was saying something because he almost chickened out of that one. It was looking like he _was_ going to chicken out of this one.

He stood in front of Will, Jade, Artemis, and Lian's house in El Pasa, hand poised to knock. It wasn't that hard. All he had to do was lower his hand against the door. That was it. Well, he probably had to do it more than once so they didn't just think that the wind had blown something against their door or something. He could ring the doorbell, actually. That was even easier than knocking!

Wally gulped. Why was this so hard? Why did he feel so awkward? Wally West was never awkward. He was a charming con man. No awkwardness allowed. Wally prepped himself to ring the doorbell. Alright, almost there. He just… had to… press… it…

No use. Wally sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was such a loser. Couldn't even ring the doorbell of the house of one of his best friends. Honestly. What kind of friend was he? These people deserved to know that he got his memories back! His _goddaughter_ deserved to get to know him! Wally groaned. His goddaughter was half the reason he was having such a hard time doing this! He knew it was stupid, but Wally couldn't help but feel guilty for having abandoned them for so long. He'd missed so much. He'd missed the girl's first steps and first words and all that. Lian knew people who had been strangers to Will better than she knew one of Will's best friends! It was frustrating and nerve-wracking and _stupid_.

Wally _knew_ that no one blamed him for being gone except himself. Will and Jade had been happy to see him even if they hadn't been pleased when he didn't remember them. Lian was young enough that it probably wouldn't even matter to her that he'd been missing the last two years. And Artemis, well. Artemis was Artemis and their special brand of mutual love-hate was something that no two-year break could destroy. At least, that was Wally's take on the situation. Artemis probably blamed Wally for sending Dick spiraling into a pit of grief and denial for a year.

That was it. Wally couldn't do this. He absolutely could not. He was just going to turn around and go back to the Rogues. They might mock him and laugh at him a little bit, but they would understand and make sure it didn't go too far. They'd make him feel better. Yes, going back to the Rogues sounded like an excellent idea.

Relieved that a decision had been made, Wally turned on his heel and started to walk back down the stairs, a small smile on his face. He only made it down one step when he noticed the person staring at him.

"What are you _doing_?" Artemis asked incredulously.

Wally groaned, "Are you _serious_? Where did you just come from?"

"I was getting groceries! Do you have a problem with that?" Artemis snapped.

Wally rolled his eyes, "Look at you. Getting defensive again. Honestly, I'm not surprised that you still don't have a steady partner. That kind of caustic attitude is why you can't get a date."

Artemis growled at him, "I'm going to _hurt_ you!" She blinked less than a second later, mouth falling open, "You remember!"

Wally raised his eyebrows at her, "You're just now figuring that out?"

"Oh, shut up and help me bring the groceries in," Artemis grouched. She sent him a smile right after she said it, though, so Wally wasn't too offended. Still, he made sure to complain the whole way to the car and into the house, loudly enough that Artemis would be able to hear him no matter where he went.

He blinked a little when he realized that there wasn't anyone in the house, "Were none of you home?"

"They'll be back in a couple of minutes. Will and Jade were just picking Lian up from daycare. I told them I'd grab groceries after class and go ahead and start making groceries," Artemis explained. She bit her lip and then asked, "You want to help?"

"Sure," Wally shrugged. They'd cooked together before. Mostly it was for events like Friendsgiving or an early Christmas party, but they were fairly competent at it. Wally might even say good. For all that they argued like cats and dogs on everything else, cooking was never a problem with them. They got along best in the kitchen.

Artemis started setting out ingredients on the island, giving quick instructions on what to do with each of them. Wally grinned when he realized they were making his (and Will's) favorite kind of curry, "What's the occasion?"

Artemis grimaced, "Comfort food, actually. They're both pretty bummed about your whole situation. I think they really wanted you to come back with your memories intact and no more blackouts."

Wally grimaced back, "Well, at the very least, I now have one of those things. Can't do anything about the blackouts, yet, though. I'm working on it, though. Getting there."

Artemis sent a smile over her shoulder at him, "I'm glad to hear that. How did you end up getting your memories back?"

"It's actually like Ben, uh, like Ben said. Did you know who Ben was?" He waited for Artemis's sad nod before he continued, "He said that I was healing up without the inhibitor collar, but I got most of my memories chronologically which… wasn't the best order to receive them in." Artemis winced and Wally tried to not do the same. When their animosity had reached a peak, years and years ago, Dick had forced them to sit down and admit certain truths to each other. They'd both realized that the other had a lot of trauma to back up their opinions. It had certainly been eye-opening. Wally continued after a moment, "Ben figured that I needed to get memories that I _wanted_. The only way we could think of triggering them, though, was to see the Rogues. Dick wouldn't even _talk_ about the Rogues, let alone let me see them, so I was just kind of stuck there. But then… Luthor and Slade happened, and Ben was killed, and I ran. I spent one night with the Rogues, getting flashbacks of much, much happier things. Then, bam! My memories were back when I woke up in the morning. So was a headache, but, well, worth it."

"That's crazy. The solution was so simple," Artemis shook her head in wonder as she measured out the spices. She hesitated a moment before admitting, "I… I heard that Dick wasn't going to let the Rogues talk to you. I should have said something. I mean, we were hurting you by making you stay there without a good way to get your memories back. I know that the Rogues are supervillains and that I'll distrust them with most things, but I should know by now to trust them with you and your relationship to heroes, at the very least. As mad as they are about this whole situation and how long it took us to reveal information, I know they would have done – not the _right_ thing as I see it – but the right thing for _you_, which I think is what they're doing now."

"Yeah," Wally smiled down the chicken he was chopping, "Yeah, they're good like that. Although – and you _didn't_ hear this from me – there might be some changes with that. The reason Cam went AWOL after my death was because of my, and therefore the rest of the Rogues', relationships with various heroes. He blamed those relationships for what happened to me."

"And yet he ended up working with the people who _actually_ did that to you," Artemis scowled.

Wally winced, "Yeah. We haven't _really_ talked about it. We had a miniature conversation, but it was more of a 'we'll talk about it once you're more settled' than actually talking about it, you know?"

Artemis snorted, "You talk like an old married woman gossiping to the neighbor next door."

"Speaking of!" Wally said excitedly. He made sure that Artemis was looking at him as he beamed and shouted, "Guess who's now engaged?"

Artemis's jaw dropped again, "No way! Who proposed to who? How did it happen? _When_ did it happen? I swear, if you didn't get a video, I'm going to be _furious_! I'm still furious that I wasn't there for it!"

Wally laughed, "Calm down, calm down. It was last night. I proposed to him. I got M'gann and Conner to lure him to their house so I could surprise Dick and propose. Well, M'gann didn't know that last bit. She said that she would have invited you regardless of my plans if she'd known because all of you girls are creepily invested in my and Dick's love life. She did say that she got a video of the moment. She had been planning on just giving it to me, but she's going to text it out to people as I tell them that I got my memories back, so be expecting the video later tonight. I couldn't be sure that you wouldn't give away the game to Will and Jade before I got the chance to surprise them!"

"Excuse you?" Artemis asked, "Of course I wouldn't have! You know that, you jerk! I swear, I give away a prank _once_ and I never hear the end of it."

"It was a good prank," Wally defended, still laughing.

Artemis shoved his shoulder, "Get back to helping me make the curry, you ingrate."

Suddenly, a child's voice came from the hallway, startling them both, "Ingrate! Ingrate!"

"Artemis!" Will called from the hallway, "Look what you've done! You're teaching my baby girl bad words!" His voice got quieter as he, presumably, started talking to Lian directly, "You're not supposed to say that word, okay sweetie?"

Jade spoke over Will, voice hard, "And who are you making curry with, Artemis?" Wally shuddered a little bit at that tone of voice. That was Jade's very dangerous voice.

He didn't get a chance to even try to answer before Jade swept around the corner, eyes blazing. Shock took over her expression for a moment before she concealed it back up again. She took a stuttering step forward, "Wally?"

"Did you say Wally?" Will asked incredulously, carrying Lian into the room. He fumbled to a stop, almost dropping his kid, when he saw Wally standing awkwardly in the kitchen, "Wally!"

"Hey, uh, Will," Wally said. The comment sounded lackluster, but he'd put so much effort into trying to say the right name, that it was a wonder he'd managed to get anything out at all.

Jade stepped forward, taking Lian from Will and putting her on the floor where she immediately rushed to hug Artemis's leg. Jade narrowed her eyes at Wally, "I was told that you had run to the Rogues after a… disappointing show by the heroes."

Artemis rolled her eyes as she got back to making the curry, "Relax, Jade. He got his memories back and wanted to come and tell us."

Will's eyes widened at Artemis's proclamation, "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Wally said, a smile curling at the edge of his lips, "Yeah, the memories are back, man."

Will laughed incredulously, throwing himself at Wally for a desperate hug. Will tugged him close for a long moment, fingers digging into Wally's back. After a split second of instinctive panic (which he was going to have to work his _butt_ off trying to stop doing. Again), Wally hugged him back just as tightly. Will had been the second hero that Wally had really been friends with. Dick was, of course, the first. But Will was the second and the first one that was easily blasé about Wally's obvious criminal tendencies. Wally had really, really missed him.

But just as much, Wally had missed Jade. The open distrust and cold walls in Jade's eyes broke Wally's heart. He took a step forward, "Hey, Jade. What? I don't get a hug?"

He did not, in fact, get a hug. Instead, he got a swift punch to the face.

The only thing that kept him steady was Will behind him, making sure that he was still standing. Once it was clear that Wally could keep to his feet, Will quickly grabbed Lian and pulled her out of the room, muttering something about playtime. Artemis nervously went back to making the curry, glancing at Wally and Jade every few seconds.

Wally opened and closed his jaw, trying to test out how badly he'd been hit. It felt pretty bad. He glared up at Jade, "What was that for?"

"You left!" Jade hissed, "You left, and you _died,_ and you are _not_ allowed to _ever_ do that again, do you understand me?"

"It's not like I did it on purpose," Wally protested, dancing back a step or two when Jade leaned in towards him.

She hissed, "Do. You. Understand. Me?"

Wally frowned, "I won't make a promise I can't keep."

Jade cursed, spinning on her heel and stalking the length of the kitchen. She stalked back and got right in his face, "You! You _idiot_! You _know_ that you are _just_ as much of a son to me as Lian is a daughter. You _know_ that. You and that idiot Cameron, both! I _know_ Will was the one who taught me how to be a hero and gave me the connections, but it was _you_ and _Cam_ who convinced me to break free. It was the two of you who made me think that I could be a hero. That I _should_ be a hero. I _broke_ when you died, Wally. I _broke_. The only reason I was able to get back on my feet is because I have a loving husband, mother, and sister and a daughter that I needed to take care of. If I didn't have them, I would have spiraled worse than Dick did. You're my _kid_, Wally. You're _mine_. And if you pull a stunt like that again – whether you're actually dead or not – I will _kill you_. Is that understood? Because I'm the only one who's allowed to do it."

Wally was tempted to say something snarky, to bring up the other people who had tried to kill him, but he couldn't get the words to come out. All he could see was the barely held back tears in Jade's eyes. All he could hear was the earnest heartbreak in her voice. So, he gave the only response he really could give to something like that. He hugged her. He pulled Jade into his arms and buried his face against her shoulder and relaxed into the feeling as much as he possibly could. He felt Jade gripping him, rocking him back and forth slightly like he really was her kid. And, in a way, he kind of was. Jade had been that female figure in his life for a long time. And, sure, he'd gathered up a fairly large group of them, eventually, between all the female criminals Aunt Lisa and Selina knew. He even had some hero female figures after Black Canary bonded with him during his capture. But Jade was the first one to stand up and be a strong female figure that actually cared about him. That he knew of, of course. He knew now that Aunt Iris was there for him, but he'd been in a bad headspace at the time and hadn't realized that.

When Wally finally managed to get his voice, he whispered, "Okay, Mom." He didn't mean it as a joke. He meant it as something serious.

He could tell that Jade recognized that because she only pulled him in tighter.

The sound of a camera shutter clicking pulled them apart. Will cursed at his phone, "I thought I had the volume off!"

Jade growled at him, "Delete that or I will stab you." She started stalking towards Will and didn't notice that Artemis was also lowering her own phone. She winked at Wally and lifted one finger to her lips. Wally smirked back before joining her to see if he could do anything else to help while Jade attacked Will.

After a few minutes of Jade chasing Will around the house, a tiny hand pulled at Wally's leg. He startled, heart jumping into his throat, but relaxed when he realized it was just Lian. He crouched down so he could see her eye to eye and smiled, "Hey, what's up, kiddo?" He cringed inwardly; he'd sounded just like his uncle.

Lian stared up at him with big eyes, "Who are you?"

"My name is Wally. I'm your godfather," Wally said, doing his best to keep the ache of failure and guilt out of his voice.

Lian didn't seem to notice as he tilted her head to the side and asked, "What's a godfather?"

Wally smiled, "A godfather is someone who takes care of you if your parents can't."

"Oh," Lian said, "How come I haven't met you before?"

Wally tried to keep his wince inside as Artemis flinched slightly at the question, "I've been lost for a very long time, Lian. Two whole years, actually. I found my way back, though."

Lian made an interested noise, "Two _whole_ years? Did you have a lot of adventures?"

Wally grinned and swooped down to pick Lian up, laughing at her squeal of delight, "You bet I did! I even helped save a _princess_."

"No," Lian gasped, eyes wide.

"It's true," Wally said, "Not to brag, but I'm pretty cool." Lian giggled before demanding stories. With a grin, Wally gave her a mostly fictious version of his 'adventure.' He would act some parts out and get her to join in. She seemed delighted.

Wally put M'gann's advice from the night before to work and didn't worry about anything else as he sat and talked with Lian. He ignored the burning guilt. He ignored the grief at missing out on so many moments like this. He ignored the concern about everything else.

He just sat and told his goddaughter a story.

And he was really, truly happy.

DDDDDD

Dick frowned when Tara got through the recording. Her eyes were wide, and she kept twining her fingers in and out of each other. Dick opened his mouth to speak, but Garfield beat him to it, "Thank you so much for coming to me with this, Tara. I know this isn't necessarily the best thing to bring up at the moment, but this really makes me feel more solid in my role as leader. I'm as nervous as I am excited about it. Knowing that you felt like you could come with me – inclusion of Dick or not – means the world to me."

Tara's lips twitched into a smile, "It was not trust that would have held me back, only the strangeness of reporting to a teenager. I know that you are trustworthy and capable, Gar."

Garfield teared up a little bit, smile just the slightest bit wobbly, "Thanks, Tara. Alright, let's get down to business. We know what made you suspicious enough to eavesdrop on her and we've heard the recording. I think the most important part is finding out who she's working for and where she thinks she's going to get a better offer from."

"I mean, just guessing, my first thought is the Light. Just since it involves Wally at all," Dick threw out.

Tara frowned slightly, "Yes, but if we are being suspicious of Helga, we must remember that she once worked with Baron Frederick DeLamb to create metahumans. I am sure she wishes to return home as much as Brion and I do. Perhaps she is still working with him."

"He's part of the Light, though, isn't he?" Garfield asked.

Tara nodded, "Yes, but… he is a subsect. I am not certain that he acts completely under their orders. I think that he must do some of his own work for his own benefit."

"Fair enough," Dick mused, mulling the point over in his head. Why couldn't Wally just get a break? They'd finally taken down Luthor, Wally's biggest evil supervillain stalker, and suddenly there's a new one willing to talk to Dr. Helga Jace about Wally. He shook his head, "You told me that I would get them back. You said that I could have them if I did this. What is them? What's been taken from Helga? Is it a who? Tara, I know it's been a while, but do you know if Helga had anyone important? Someone that could have been taken from her?"

Tara frowned, "She had no husband or children or immediate family. If she had friends other than the royal family, then we never heard about them."

Dick frowned, "No one? Okay… and Gar, she did say that she was forced to work in the Bedlam Syndicate, right?"

"Yeah," Garfield said, clearly not sure where the conversation was going.

Dick tapped his hand against his thigh, "There's something off about this situation, about her. She knows how much you care about Wally, Tara. She's been nothing but supportive and loving to you, Brion, Violet, and the others. How about this? I'll try to find a way to get to her phone and figure out who she's been calling. You two very, _very_ subtly ask around and see if anyone else has noticed anything strange about Helga."

Garfield nodded and added in his own piece, "Tara, you said that you've seen Helga take some people aside and speak to them? And that they come out of it with worried or fearful expressions? See if you can talk to those people and figure out what it was she said to them. If we can get an idea of what she's talking about, maybe we can see if it relates to all the rest of this."

"Good idea," Dick said, nodding to Garfield. He nodded back and they disbanded shortly.

Dick had no idea what was going on. He had no idea what Helga was suddenly doing or why she was making this strange phone call. He didn't know what she was missing or who she was working for. All he knew was that Wally was, once again, stuck in the middle of it all.

And he called _Dick_ a dramatic trouble magnet.


	27. Chapter 27

LLLLLL

Wally had dragged the Rogues to The Hub or whatever stupid name the Outsiders' playground was called. And by dragged, Len meant that Wally picked them up and raced them over without telling them so they didn't have time to escape. There would be words said about that later. When Len had asked him why on _earth_ Wally had been so determined to get them all into a hero hideout and researching the Light at an ungodly hour, he'd stared Len determinedly in the eye and said, "I am _sick_ of them ruining my life. I've been afraid of them and hurt by them for almost half my life by this time. I'm not letting it go any further." Len hadn't had the heart to say no to something like that.

The heroes had been thrown immediately into chaos when it happened, of course. It turned out that the only one Wally had informed of his plans was Bart and Bart had forgotten to inform the others. Luckily, the first one Wally dropped off had been Len and not, say, Mick, so any unfortunate instances were avoided.

That wasn't to say that all the little heroes were okay with them being there. Geoforce or whatever Gregor's brother was called seemed especially irritated at their presence, scowling and stomping around the room like a little kid having a tantrum. It was irritating. Len was going to have to address that if it kept going on. But no matter what Prince Brion or some of the others thought, having Wally and the Rogues there made a huge difference. The Outsiders had just been given a huge stash of paperwork detailing Luthor's many, many crimes. The heroes had seemed shocked that Luthor would just have all of this lying around, but Len wasn't. The Rogues even practiced the same sort of thing with their Heist books. All of those were detailed plans of current, past, or future heists. If someone really wanted to nail them, then all they had to do was find those books, just like they did with Luthor.

Regardless, Wally was going through the information first, blasting through each page and separating them into piles. Each pile was themed differently and assigned to a group of children and/or Rogues to look over and gather relevant information from. At the end of the day, they'd present the information they got. Once Wally was done going through the files from the bust on Luthor's place, he would go through all the data that the Outsiders had gathered in the past and he'd organize it and add his own contributions. Beast Boy had given them a large conference room to dedicate to this issue.

At the moment, it certainly seemed to be solidly thought-out and well-prepared plan (which was unsurprising when Wally was in charge of it). Of course, Cameron was a ticking time bomb, his irritation with the fact that they were helping heroes again mounting with every given moment. Len wasn't sure what to do about that situation when they still had the threat of the Light bearing down on them. This wasn't a matter of saving the world from the Light. This was a matter of getting rid of an organization that was threatening them, their family, their reputation, and their livelihood. Len just couldn't figure out how to say that without sounding like he was against Cameron.

Len sighed. He would never, ever, _ever_ regret adopting his four children, but sometimes he wished he had gotten them a different way. Perhaps when they were younger. He felt, a lot of the time, that any issues that the rest of the group had with any of the kids could have been solved by them just growing up with the Rogues. That wasn't to say that the Rogues didn't get some of them relatively young, but it wasn't young enough in a lot of cases. By the time they found the Rogues to be taken in by the Rogues, they'd already gone through enough trauma and horror to be child criminals. That equated to a lot of misunderstandings and trust issues and general disturbances that Len would have been able to avoid if he'd gotten to the kids sooner. But he knew that he wouldn't have ever seen them at all if they hadn't gotten to that point first.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but it didn't make it any truer. Not that that fact helped at all with figuring out how to deal with their tougher moments, like Cam's recent self-exile from the group.

Or, it seemed, like Wally's current issue.

It took a few seconds for anyone to realize that something was wrong. There wasn't any loud noise or shout or anything to indicate an issue. The only thing that told Len that Wally was upset was that the frantic rustling of paper had stopped. Instead, Wally was staring at one particular paper, eyes glued to the page, fingers crinkling the edges, face bloodless. After a long moment where the heroes clearly tried to figure out if they should say something while the Rogues patiently waited for Wally to speak, Wally asked quietly, "Luthor finished the Everyman Project? There are… heroes running around because of the Everyman Project?"

Len winced. If that was true, then… yikes. It was no wonder Wally was upset. Beast Boy was the one to answer, voice slow and measured, "Yes, he has. They were actually the ones who found this. They were never told that there had been such horrible human experimentation involved in the process. They thought that they were the test subjects and that everything else had been theory and maybe some tests on rats. We made sure that they knew who Luthor really was and then we gave them the chance to make their own decision from there. When we, uh, _you_ arrested Luthor, they took their chance to fight Mercy off and get this information."

"Huh," Wally said, voice flat. By this point, even Tara was starting to look vaguely alarmed and she seemed to otherwise be fairly good at hiding her emotions. Wally continued after a second, "And what are these heroes doing now?"

"It's none of your business," Cyborg answered immediately, vehemently. He was another one who seemed to have an issue with the fact that villains were helping with their research. Then again, he was a fairly new hero as far as Len knew. There was a chance he just didn't understand yet. Or maybe he'd be one of the ones who never understood the Rogues. There were some of those out there.

Wally glanced up and seemed to take in the concern and worry permeating the room. He frowned for a moment before his eyes widened, "I'm not going to go up and – and beat them up or whatever because they made the mistake of trusting Luthor. That'd be rather hypocritical of me to do. He's good at manipulating people. I just wanted to know if they were going to get in on this too. I also wanted to see what their genetic makeup looked like. Maybe Luthor saw something in his formula for the Everyman Project that helped him figure out what caused my blackouts."

"One of them is a speedster," Bart added. A few of the others gave him betrayed looks, but he firmly ignored them, "But not, like, a speedster, speedster. She can just run really fast. None of the rest of the stuff. That's a good idea, though. We should compare our DNA and see if we can find something."

"Hm," Wally considered, "Yeah, definitely. I just… I thought for sure when I saw this that this was the key to how Luthor understood my blackouts. I mean, comparing my genetics to those of the average speedster is brilliant. Luthor obviously has my previous DNA, but that didn't give them any results. And where would he get the DNA from other actual speedsters if that chick isn't a legit speedster?"

El Dorado gasped dramatically, "The lunch!"

Beast Boy's eyes widened, "Of course! The Outsiders and Infinity, Inc. – the team created from the Everyman Project – got together for a lunch event partially to put to rest some of the bitter rival rumors on the internet but mostly so we could tell them about what Luthor was like. We _ate_ lunch. Luthor could have easily gotten our DNA off of that."

Wally's eyes sharpened, "You didn't wipe it off? C'mon, kid. Lesson number one of being someone behind a mask at a restaurant: wipe down everything to make sure no one can get your DNA from it. Or fingerprints."

"That's so paranoid," Beast Boy complained. He started talking again before any of the Rogues could protest, "Okay, so it sounds like we have a valid lead on how to figure out what Luthor discovered about your blackouts. If, of course, he actually discovered anything. I don't trust him."

"That makes a lot of us," Wally muttered. The rest of the Rogues made quiet noises of agreement.

Beast Boy nodded to them and continued, "How many more boxes are you going through, Wally? Just so we know where we're starting at. I'm thinking, based on the number of stacks I see, I'm going to have to call some more people in. I just want to know how many I need."

Wally shrugged, "Two more boxes. Looking at the contents, I'd say that I won't be making any new stacks."

"Cool," Beast Boy said, "I'll call some people, then. See who can come help us on a weekend."

"If you get anyone from the Bat fam, then send them my way. I want to see how much they know about Ra's al Ghul and why he split from the Light. And what he thinks me, Jason, and Wyynde can do about it. I figure they're my best bets at getting information about this," Wally said distractedly, already sorting through the rest of the papers.

That seemed to be the breaking point for Cyborg and Brion, though. Both of them leapt to their feet, outraged. Brion spoke first, "Is he our leader now? Why is he calling the shots? I understand that he is a friend to many of you and that he is a Rogue, but he is still a _supervillain_. Why are we giving him – and the rest of the Rogues – so much control? Are you not concerned that they may sabotage us?"

"Sabotage you?" Digger asked incredulously. Len motioned for him to be quiet. It wouldn't keep them silent for the whole debate, but it would give them a chance at least.

Tara stood up, cheeks flushed red with anger, "Brion, you said that he was alright and that you would try to get along with him! Wally wouldn't do that!"

"Do you think I haven't been told the stories?" Brion asked, "Momentum has played heroes before. I heard that he promised the Justice League that he would report to them on the Light but was instead feeding them false or unimportant information in order to allow the Light to win."

Tara opened her mouth again to furiously protest, but Wally stepped in first. His voice was flat again when he asked, "And did you hear how I helped take back the Watchtower after it was infiltrated, and the heroes were turned against us? Did you hear how I saved the day after weeks of torture and experimentation? How about when I _sacrificed myself_ to stop the MFD? Did you hear about that one? Are you going to let one bad decision color how you see every single one of my actions from here on out?"

"It wasn't as simple as just 'one bad decision,'" Cyborg protested, "You literally joined the Light. You were a willing member of their group."

"A highly manipulated one," Cameron defended, "Luthor spent weeks setting up a situation where Wally would feel like his only possible choice was to join the Light. Besides, I don't hear you complaining about me. I joined the Light willingly when I was a kid. The only reason I left was because of Wally. I joined it again once Wally was dead. Why are you only attacking Wally?"

"Do you want us to attack you too?" Cyborg asked incredulously.

"Of course not," Cameron rolled his eyes, "I just want to know why the Prince over there seems to have such an issue with Wally."

Brion frowned, seemingly warring with something in his head. Wally was standing with his shoulders straight and his expression smooth, but Len could read his kid by now. Wally was furious and hurt. That last bit made Len want to tear Brion apart, budding working relationship with King Gregor notwithstanding. Wally had had enough hurt for the time being. For the rest of his life, honestly. Len didn't know what Brion's problem was, but he wasn't going to stand for it. He especially wasn't going to stand for it if this was still some misguided jealousy for the affections his sister held for a supervillain. Len had been sure that Brion and Wally had come to an agreement on that point.

Beast Boy's eyes widened, and he glanced quickly to Tara. Her own eyes widened in some sort of realization. Len's eyes narrowed. Were they keeping secrets? Again? These ones were obviously affecting – and hurting – Wally. That was unacceptable.

This was why Len had an issue with working with the heroes. He understood that he and the rest of the Rogues were supervillains. He got that. It was hard to trust them. But they weren't awful people. They also happened to live on the planet Earth and had no desire to let it be destroyed. On some of these matters, the Rogues and the heroes were in perfect alignment. But the Rogues couldn't help if they couldn't get information. And, unfortunately, the heroes lied more than they told the truth. That felt more than a little ironic to Len, but he doubted that anyone would appreciate him bringing up the subject at the moment.

Beast Boy stood up abruptly, expression fierce and sure, "Brion, are you saying that because it's what you think or… are you saying that because Helga convinced you that Wally could be considered a threat?"

Brion's eyes widened dramatically. Len's did, too. Wasn't Helga that doctor who was hanging around all the children? Wasn't she the other Markovian? Brion's eyes narrowed back down again, "Have you been listening in on our conversations?"

"No," Tara said, "Not yours. I only overheard one of hers and it made me suspicious of the conversations she had with others."

"Suspicious?" Halo asked, blinking her enormous, innocent looking eyes at Tara, "What do you mean? Are you saying she lied to us?"

"We don't know what she said to all of you, so we can't say for sure whether she lied or not or what she's doing," Beast Boy took over, "What we can say is that Tara overheard her talking to some as of yet unidentified third party about getting information on Wally."

"Unidentified until now," a new voice interrupted smugly. Len rolled his eyes when he saw Dick stroll in. The two brats behind him looked familiar too. With a bit of thinking, Len realized it was the other two Robins – the dead one and the current one. Their entrance was entirely too dramatic. And that was saying something if Len was the one telling other people they were too dramatic.

Dick opened his mouth, clearly planning to make a big show of what was likely a simple reveal. He didn't get a chance, however. Wally saw the dead Robin and laughed delightedly, "Jason!"

"Wally?" Jason asked incredulously, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we were in a hero base. What are you doing here?" Before Wally could answer, Jason smirked at him, "The allure of heroism too strong?"

"I literally hate you," Wally deadpanned, grin dropping straight off his face. Jason kept smirking.

Dick, on the other hand, pouted, "Wally! Not only did you ruin my dramatic reveal, but you also greeted Jason before you greeted your fiancé! I'm more important!"

Wally zipped over and pecked Dick on the cheek, "Of course, dear. I would never imply otherwise. Love you, babe." Half the room cooed while the other half rolled their eyes at the sappy display.

Then the words seemed to catch up with them. Cyborg's jaw dropped and he shrieked, "_Fiancé_?"

"I proposed two days ago," Wally announced smugly, "And he obviously said yes. It was all very romantic. Because I am a very romantic person."

Dick sighed, "Anyways, what I was _trying_ to say before I was interrupted is that I traced who the call came from. It's from a Cassandra Savage. We have confirmed that this is Vandal Savage's daughter. She spent some time with Tara in training with the League of Shadows under Lady Shiva's tutelage. It is thought that she typically spent most of her time in the War Planet with Savage but has recently been conducting business down here on Earth. I have to assume that Cassandra was connected with Helga through Baron Bedlam. It then goes to reason that Helga is with the Light. Now, I'm not sure for how long or why. I know that the Light is promising to return something to her. What that something is, I'm not certain. I'm trying to figure out what it is right now, though. Tara noticed that Helga has been having private conversations with members of this team, though, and leaving them upset in the aftermath, so we wanted to figure out where her allegiances lied so we could see if what she told you is true."

"She might have lied?" Halo pressed, looking more and more intent with each question she asked.

Tara glanced over at her cautiously, "That is possible, yes. Did she say something to you?"

Halo hesitated. The rest of the group hesitated with her, staring at her like she was a bug under a microscope. Len rolled his eyes and decided it was time to step in, "You don't have to tell them Halo. Fact is, only your team leader needs to know the particulars. He can get the details and check to see if its true without airing out your dirty laundry to the whole group. I know heroes like to be nosy brats, but you don't have to let them." Brion looked hilariously outraged, clearly torn between being happy that Len was stepping up for his girlfriend and being angry that Len prevented him from learning his girlfriend's secrets.

Halo gave him a blinding grin, though, and turned to face Beast Boy, "Then, I would like to tell you in private, please."

"That's totally cool. Do you need to tell me now or can it wait until we've all gone back to work?" Beast Boy asked cautiously. It was clear that he wasn't entirely certain what he was doing. If Len remembered correctly, the kid was incredibly new to his leader role. It probably didn't come anywhere near naturally. Still, he was doing an alright job of it.

"So," Wally interrupted, "What's happening now? Is this Helga chick being arrested? Who is she? Do we know why Savage is interested enough in me to send his daughter after me? Because I was under the impression that it was just Luthor who wanted me and I'm a little concerned that there's more than one person."

Dick frowned, "We need to see what Dr. Jace's role was supposed to be. If we know what her assignment was, we can figure out the answers to your questions, Walls. Does anyone know where Dr. Jace is at the moment?"

"She's with Jefferson," El Dorado threw in, "They're having a long lunch date."

Dick winced, "That's going to be awkward. I guess I'll call Jeff and try to explain the situation. Oh man."

"Have fun with that, babe," Wally added, squeezing Dick's hand and leaning their foreheads together briefly. Dick gave him a wan smile before kissing Wally's temple and walking out of the room, phone in hand.

Jason made a gagging noise, "That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."

Wally glared at him, "Clearly you've never looked in a mirror."

Beast Boy choked on a laugh, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do I need to separate you two?"

"I'd like to see you try," Jason growled, clearly imitating Batman.

Wally smirked, "The separation anxiety getting to you again?" Jason tackled Wally. Len honestly hadn't even seen it coming. The rest of the Rogues jumped up, clearly preparing to separate the two by force, but Len held up a hand to stop them. They glanced at him curiously, but ultimately listened. Len could tell that the two weren't actually trying to kill each other. It seemed more like when Hartley would chase James down and the two would start to play wrestle. It was cute.

And… Wally was laughing. Really, genuinely laughing. It was a sound that Len had heard a couple times recently but not nearly enough. He was certain that no amount of Wally's joy and happiness and laughter could replace the two years where Len went bereft and Wally suffered, but… might as well make sure Wally got as much of it as he could.

HHHHHH

Helga and Jefferson both blushed and laughed when they're phones went off at the exact same time. Helga looked down and noticed the unknown phone number, so she smiled at Jefferson and said, "Patient privacy." She walked away to the sound of his laughter and a quiet greeting to Dick.

Helga flipped the phone open and pressed it to her ear, "Hello? Dr. Jace speaking. How may I help you?"

"_I heard you may help me a lot_," the voice responded. Helga's heartbeat quickened. The voice continued, "_You know information that might help me_."

The voice didn't need to identify itself. Helga knew who it was, "I know who the key to your Anti-Life Equation is. I will give you that person if you guarantee that I will have two others."

"_Interesting_," Darkseid responded, "_And who will you be asking to keep_?"

"Brion and Tara Markov," Helga answered instantly, "The Light said that I could have them, but then Tara betrayed the Light and our plans fell to dust. They kept demanding more without giving myself and my children a place to live freely and without worry of pursuit. They promised to ensure that Brion and Tara would _listen_ to me long enough for me to show them that they are _my children_ and that _I_ will protect them."

There was a long pause before Darkseid asked, "_And the key to the Anti-Life Equation?_"

"I will be keeping that information for myself until the time comes when Tara and Brion are _mine_. Do we have a deal?" Helga asked. She was scared – terrified, even – but it didn't matter in the long run. This was for her children's protection and Helga would push through any fear to ensure that. It didn't matter that this was a being so powerful and terrifying that Vandal Savage had been forced to create a secret plan that spanned decades. It didn't matter that Darkseid could easily torture her for the information on Violet. No, all that mattered was that Helga was _going_ to get her children and she was _going _to protect them.

She could hear the grin in Darkseid's voice when he responded, "_We have a deal_."

The line went dead.

SSSSSS

Savage tapped the edge of his chair faintly. Dr. Jace had to know that Halo is the key to the Anti-Life Equation at this point. That was an inevitability. It was also an inevitability that she would sell that information to Darkseid. What Savage needed to know was whether or not the heroes would be ready to stop Darkseid and protect Halo.

In the end, there was only one thing Savage could do to ensure that. He needed to inform the heroes. He needed to tell them everything. Without that vital information, everything could fall apart. And Savage had spent far too long on this to lose.

First things first, though, to ensure conversation would happen, Savage needed a hostage…


	28. Chapter 28

WWWWWW

Jefferson was stone-faced and silent when he came into the room, hand resting lightly on the shoulder of a woman who Wally assumed was Dr. Helga Jace. She was pretty and mousy looking, eyes darting rapidly around the room. Wally felt his protective instinct flare when Dr. Jace's eyes lingered for just a little too long on Tara. This was the woman who was going after information about him? Seriously? Wally tried to keep his fury inside at the sight of her. He was so _sick_ of people hurting him and hurting him and hurting him. He was so _sick_ of people seeing him and wanting to tear him apart to see how he ticked. What gave this woman the right to want to do the same thing? What gave Savage the right since he was apparently interested in it, too?

Did Wally attract people like this? Was he doing something wrong that people looked at him and saw someone to hurt? Other people didn't have this problem! Other people weren't so scared to go to the doctor's that they had to do house calls with their whole family in the room watching. Other people didn't… they didn't… Wally wasn't other people. He needed to learn to accept that. He needed to learn to accept that people just wanted to hurt him and that he needed to be more careful all the time. He needed to consider everyone an enemy until they proved without a shred of doubt that they weren't.

Dr. Jace made a nervous, questioning sound, breaking the silence that had settled over the room, "What's going on?"

"Helga, I'm asking you, for _us_, to tell the truth. Were you working with the Light?" Garfield asked, shoulders drooped with the weight of the question he just asked.

Dr. Jace stiffened momentarily, a breathy laugh already leaving her mouth before Garfield had even finished asking his question, "G – uh, Beast Boy, what do you mean? Why on earth would I work with the Light? You know that Baron Bedlam forced me to help him turn those kids into metahumans, but that is over and done with."

Garfield dropped his head, disappointment permeating the air between them. The stiff, nervous smile on Dr. Jace's face faltering at the look. Dick stepped forward (looking especially cute in his all-black outfit), "Helga, we have definitive proof that you called and have been called by Cassandra Savage, the right hand woman and daughter to Vandal Savage, leader of the Light. We have a recording of you attempting to bargain information about Momentum for a currently unidentified thing."

There was a long pause. Jeff had stepped away from Dr. Jace at this point, looking away from her with a clenched jaw and shaking hands. Wally wanted to wince; betrayal like this in a relationship was never good. Dr. Jace swallowed before admitting slowly, "They promised to protect me and my children. Even now, they are preventing me from getting to my children. I did what I had to do."

Wally could see the way Dick immediately softened, a sigh touching his lips. Wally was more suspicious. Children? This chick? She gave off liar vibes. Something about the way she said that the Light was preventing her from getting to her children set off alarm bells with Wally. Dick said gently, "You should have told us, Helga. We can help you. You don't need to work with anyone else. Just tell us who your kids are, and we can find them. We did it with Tara and with Wally. We can do it with your kids as well."

Brion didn't look convinced either. He stepped forward slightly, frowning, "You told us that you had no children."

"That was to protect them," Dr. Jace answered quickly. A little too quickly, in Wally's opinion, but he was probably biased. Dr. Jace continued after a pause, "With what Baron DeLamb was doing, I could not risk him discovering that I had children."

"That doesn't make sense," Brion continued, eyebrows furrowing together, "You told me once that myself, Gregor, and Tara were like your children because you had none of your own. You said that we were the children you wished you had. Why would you say that where Baron DeLamb could hear that if you were worried about how he would react to the idea of you having children?" Dr. Jace's eyes flickered to Tara again, hungry and excited. Wally felt a pit form in his stomach.

He asked, quiet but firm, "Tara and Brion are your children, aren't they?" Dr. Jace didn't need to say anything in response. It was clear from her reaction – the paling of her skin, the way her eyes widened, the half-step she took back – that Wally was right. She made a valiant attempt at recovery, forcing out another incredulously giggle. Wally felt his heart sink. Tara and Brion were giving the woman identical looks of horror.

"What did you mean by that?" Dick asked, glancing over at Wally.

Wally shrugged, "Like Brion said, they were the kids that she didn't have. She's been giving them creepy, stalker looks this whole time. The way she said the Light was stopping her from _getting to_ her children. It makes sense."

"You didn't leave Baron Bedlam until _after_ Brion had been rescued," Jeff accused, finally turning back to look at Dr. Jace, "All those horrible things you saw, all those deaths, and you never left until you'd turned Brion into a metahuman."

Dick made a disgusted expression, "Is that your whole thing? You turned him into a metahuman, so he must be yours?" Brion and Tara were looking vaguely ill at that point.

At the accusing stares coming from all around her and the disgust from the Markov siblings, Dr. Jace broke. She screeched into the silence of the room, "You don't understand! I _created_ them! They were reborn through _me_! If it weren't for me, they would still be in their inferior forms! I am their _mother_! I thought that Violet was mine, too, since I _shaped_ Gabrielle, but Gabrielle died when she rejected the change. Then the Motherbox merged with her and _Violet_ was created. You are not my child! My child is dead! But Tara and Brion – they're _mine_. I _gave birth to them_. Perhaps I could not do it in the usual way, but this is _better_. I made them _superior beings_. I gave them a _better life_."

Tara stumbled backwards, a hand held to her mouth. Brion looked like he wanted to comfort her but was too out of it to try. Hands shaking with fury at the thought of this _freak_ coming anywhere near Tara, Wally zipped over to the siblings. He couldn't kill Dr. Jace (kill? Where did that come from? Rogues don't kill. They don't, they don't, they _don't_ – no matter that Wally _did_), so he did what he could and dragged a sibling under each arm. Brion might not like him, but he was Tara's brother, so he was going to get comfort, too. Tara wrapped her arms around Wally's midsection, shaking against his side. After a moment, Brion leaned into the hold as well, eyes closed as he groped blindly to find Tara's hand and squeeze it tight. Wally settled for glaring at Dr. Jace.

She was glaring right back, "And you! You are a _taint_ on my children! They are _heroes_. Beautiful, powerful heroes. You are _tainting them_, the way you've _tainted_ the rest! Unhand them! Give them _back_. _Give them back_!"

That was it for Wally. He wouldn't leave the two when he was comforting them, but he wasn't going to just sit there and take that. He growled, lightning rising under his skin and pushing at the surface. He could feel the light dancing across his eyes, could feel the sparks snapping and crackling across his skin. The air popped with pure energy. It was enough to penetrate even Dr. Jace's insane ravings; she curled back, expression dropping into fear. Wally hissed, "_You_ are a taint to these _children_. You are a _monster_. _Experimenting_ on someone does _not_ make them yours. You ruined their lives, hurt them more than they could count, and sold them out to people who _continued_ to hurt them. You have _no right_ to claim them and you have _no right_ to judge _me_."

Dr. Jace got back some of her bravado, shaking but determined, "You are a supervillain. I can judge you however I-,"

Wally cut her off, voice dropping into a lower register, lightning coating his eyes entirely, "I _dare_ you to judge me one more time." Her voice petered off as she curled even further into herself.

By this point, everyone in the room was watching Wally warily. Wally wanted to scream. He wasn't going to snap and kill all of them! He was just – upset. Even the _Rogues_ were looking at him like he was teetering on the edge of insanity, like it was only going to take a breath of air to push him over.

Carefully, slowly, Wally pulled his powers back down into himself. He gave himself a moment in relative time where the only eyes that could judge him were Bart's. He was calm. He _was_. When Wally determined that he wasn't going to look like a madman anymore, he let go of his control over time, slipping back into normal speed. He very calmly stated, "I'm not going to go on a murder spree, so you can all stop looking at me like that."

Garfield laughed awkwardly, clearly trying to break the tension. It didn't work. Len spoke softly, like Wally was a skittish creature (which he _wasn't_. He might have been once, but he wasn't anymore. Besides, Len hadn't been gentle with him back then either), "Maybe we should go home, let the heroes deal with their own issues."

"She became my issue when she tried to sell information about me," Wally said, struggling to maintain his calm. The _heroes_ wouldn't stop _staring_ at him. It rubbed like sandpaper against his skin, dragging his worst fears and insecurities out into the open. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the superheroes; Wally had learned how to ignore their stares a long time ago. But no, the Rogues were watching him with that same judgmental, _scared_ look. What did they have to be scared of? They know he wouldn't hurt them. They know that he wouldn't hurt _anyone_.

Was this because Wally had… done bad things? It wasn't his fault! He'd been trying to protect Tara! It wasn't like the rest of them hadn't killed! They had _no right_ to be scared of him for that. He'd looked like that before, with the lightning and all, and they hadn't been this scared. Awed, maybe. Surprised. A truly angry speedster was a rare occasion and often startled people, but they shouldn't still be scared. Wally wasn't going to _do_ anything!

And then there was Dick! The man was going to _marry_ Wally and even he was looking at Wally like the speedster was going to snap, like he was _scared_. Dick should _know_ that there was nothing that would make Wally hurt him. He had to know how much Wally loved him. Or… had Wally been gone too long? Had he spent too much of his life disappeared into some place or a lab? Had Dick forgotten how much Wally cared? No, Wally had shown his feelings clearly when he'd proposed. And yet… Dick had his hands up like he did when he was facing someone whose powers were out of control. Wally was in control. He _was_.

He couldn't take this anymore, though. They were judging him, all of them. He couldn't handle their stares on him, couldn't handle the fear and suspicion there. Not today. Not after the last two years. He just _couldn't_.

So, he did what he did best, and he ran.

It didn't take him long to slow down. He'd gently deposited Tara and Brion over by the Rogues because he knew that the Rogues would protect them if it came down to it. That slowdown was what cost him because he'd barely gotten a state over when he realized he was being followed. There was a strange, new feeling deep in his chest that told Wally that, if he pushed himself just a little further, he could leave Bart in the dust. Instead, he slowed down somewhere in Canada, sliding down against a tree and closing his eyes. Bart skidded to a stop a moment later, eyebrow already raised, "You've gotten a lot faster."

"I could have left you in the dust," Wally pointed out, a silent plea for Bart to just _leave_ or be quiet or _something_ other than talk about it.

Bart laughed, "Yeah, you probably could have." He sat down next to Wally, leaning back on his arms and glancing over, "They weren't scared of you."

Wally blew out an aggravated breath, passing a hand over his face, "Really? It didn't seem that way to me."

"I think they were scared for you," Bart informed him.

"Is that much better?" Wally asked. He continued before Bart could answer, "It isn't. They're afraid that I'm – I'm too _damaged_ or whatever. I can tell. They see me and they think that I've been through too much, that the last two years were the final straw. They think I can't handle this. They're worried that I'll snap if I try to handle it. That's _worse_."

Bart made a humming noise. For a moment, the two of them just sat there, breathing in the sounds and scents of the forest. Bart snuck a glance at Wally, "Are _they_ worried that you're going to snap, or are _you_?"

Wally growled, "I'm _not_ going to snap! I'm _fine_!"

"Running away doesn't really prove your point," Bart pointed out.

Wally glared at him, "It was better than standing in that room with them _judging_ me and being afraid. Did you hear the way Len talked to me? He was acting like I was some little kid! Worse, he was acting like I was some little civilian kid! Even when I _was_ younger, he didn't treat me like that. He always talked to us like we were adults. He talked to us like we could understand what was going on and what was happening. Which we _can_. And now he's talking down to me? Screw him."

Bart started picking at his nail, "Wally, I know we don't really know each other all that well. I mean, I _feel_ like I know you since I knew the older version of you that I grew up with in the future. Plus, like, you kind of left shoes to fill when you 'died' and I ended up hearing a lot about you in that. Which is crash, of course. I'm not blaming you or anything. I'm just – saying. I feel like I know you even if we don't really know each other all that well. And, I mean, I think you're pretty cool. But, anyways, that's not important. What I'm trying to say is that I might not be the best person for you to talk your feelings out to, but I am a speedster, so I can understand a little bit. Enough to know that the amount of power we have _can_ be scary sometimes. And it can be hard to know that everyone expects us to be happy and calm and controlled all the time. I know that we scare people when we get angry and that makes it feel like we can't even though – even though we all have stuff that we should get angry about and we have stuff that's built up from our trash lives and not being able to express that is – it's not asterous. It's really hard, actually."

"Tell me something I don't know," Wally muttered. He'd never had to hold in his anger as much as Barry and Bart did, luckily. Being a supervillain with a penchant for being slightly surly meant that it wasn't as strange to see him upset. But not holding anger wasn't the same as being able to fully express it. Wally knew that he'd scare people if he got truly angry. He knew that he'd scare himself. He _was_ in control. He _was_. It was just… a lot to control sometimes.

Bart gave him a small smile, "Exactly. And the only reason we're able to do that – I believe, at least – is because we surround ourselves with people who, who don't _understand_, necessarily, but they _care_ and they know how to help us as much as we can be helped." Bart lit up as he realized something, "They might not _empathize_ with us, but they _sympathize_ with us! Ha! Jaime always said that English class wouldn't be useful but look at that!"

Wally glared at him, "English class is the _last_ thing I want to hear about right now."

Bart shrugged sheepishly, "My point still stands. I know they were being weird but that's just because you surprised them. They haven't seen you in literal years. Everyone's still trying to get used to you. Plus, you're a lot more powerful than you used to be, right? I had never seen you light up like that before, but it was really impressive. I'm betting it's the most intimidating you've ever looked. They're you're family. They're all used to speedster stuff. They just needed a moment to adjust."

"Yeah," Wally said, not really agreeing but not disagreeing either, "Whatever."

Bart smiled again, "Ready to go back yet?"

"Absolutely not," Wally answered, "Even if I was, like, emotionally ready or whatever, I don't really want to get in the middle of all that stuff with Dr. Jace. Like, obviously I want to know what the Light was planning on getting from her and if she was selling my info out to someone else or not, but… I'll leave that to you heroes."

"Those heroes," Bart corrected, "Let's leave that to them. How about the two of us go see if Barry or someone in the Watchtower has my genetic profile recorded somewhere? If not them, then we can try Batman, who I am completely certain has my genetic profile somewhere."

Wally laughed, "You're not wrong about that. Okay, let's go and see what we can figure out. Who knows? We might have my blackouts solved by the end of the day. That'll really make the rest of the guys at the Hub feel lame, yeah? All those non-speedsters holding us back."

Bart snorted, "Sure, Wally."

With that, they ran.

DDDDDD

Dick was willing to admit that he'd handled Wally's… anger? Possessiveness? Protective feelings? in a less than stellar manner. He should have followed Garfield's lead and broken the tension in the room when Wally told them he wasn't going to go on a murder spree. He _knew_ that Wally wasn't going to do anything, that he wasn't any danger to anyone (except maybe Helga – no, that was stupid. Wally wouldn't have hurt anyone). It was just… Wally had never gotten that mad before. Or, maybe he had, and it just hadn't manifested as strongly physically. But Wally hadn't been had two years of awfulness to fuel his rage at any other time that Dick had seen him.

From the moment Wally had gotten his memories back, he'd seemed fine to Dick – too fine. He was relaxed and happy and determined. That wasn't a healthy reaction to two years of torture. That wasn't a healthy reaction to trying to fit back into a reality that had believed him dead for two years. Wally and Dick hadn't even really sat down and had a serious talk, yet. Of course, they'd spent the night together after the proposal, but there'd been less talking and more _existing_ in those moments. From what Dick had gotten from brief texts to Hartley, Wally had been the same with them. He'd been more focused on reconnecting and figuring out this Light stuff than he was on having serious discussions.

Of course, it was nothing new to see Wally running from serious conversations. Which, Dick understood, but it was still frustrating in this situation. Wally needed to talk to someone. Dick could only hope that Bart was that someone. Maybe this was the catalyst Wally needed to be able to talk to someone about what he went through, about the hardships he was currently facing. It burned that he didn't feel like he could come to Dick to talk about this. It probably burned the Rogues just as bad that Wally didn't come to them either. But Dick couldn't focus on that. As long as Wally talked to someone at some point, he would do his best to not get jealous over who.

Dick shook his head. This wasn't the time for those thoughts. There was a Light conspirator standing right there in the room. She was clearly crazy. If Dick had to guess, he'd label her with an antisocial personality disorder along with _whatever_ convinced her that experimenting on children and forcing uncontrolled powers on them made them her _children_. It made Dick sick to his stomach. He couldn't even imagine how Brion and Tara felt.

With that in mind, Dick nodded to them where they were surrounded by protective Rogues, "Brion, Tara, why don't you head to the kitchen to relax? You don't need to entertain her ramblings anymore." Helga's head whipped up at that, heartbreak written clear across her face. She didn't say anything though; she was still shaking from her interaction with Wally.

Brion shook his head, expression fierce, "No. I will hear her explanations. You were poisoning my mind to Wally because you thought he was bad for me, correct?" Helga nodded miserably. Brion set his jaw and continued, "And you said some awful lie to Violet because you thought she was your child and then you thought she wasn't your child, correct?"

Helga's expression twisted, "She _isn't_ my child, but she was _clinging_ to you. My sweet, beautiful child. How could I let someone so corrupted, someone who _betrayed_ me stand by your side? I had to lie. I had to break her faith in the group, in herself. And then I could have just given her-," Helga cut herself off.

Garfield perked up, though, "Given her to whom? The Light? Why would they want Violet?" Helga bared her teeth and didn't respond.

Tara stepped forward slightly, ignoring the cautionary glances the Rogues were sending her, "Helga, if I promise to talk to you and let you explain more about this 'child' situation, will you promise to tell us about everything you did with the Light? I am interested in this child idea you have. I no longer have parents and, frankly, I have been bereft of strong female figures in my life until I came here and found you again." Dick raised his eyebrows, impressed. He could barely tell that Tara was lying (he hoped she was lying). He was certain that Helga wouldn't be able to tell the difference, especially in the state she was.

Sure enough, Helga brightened. She glanced to Brion momentarily before flinching away from his stony look. She looked back over to Tara and started explaining everything, "The Light have been tracking my progress for a while. They knew that I was making significant strides with the Tar and the creation of metahumans. They knew that I was likely to come in contact with the metahuman they were looking for. When I realized that Violet was the one they wanted, I kept the information for myself. I wanted to see what I could make it worth, how much protection I could get for us. But then they started asking questions about _Momentum_. They wanted to know what I knew about his blackouts, about his power boost. They wanted to know if he was working with the heroes and what his allegiances were. It wasn't information I had any real access to."

"So, you sold the information to someone else," Tara said softly, encouragingly.

"Yes," Helga smiled, "I sold the information to the one who _really_ wanted to know who Violet is. The one who wants to use her for his formula."

"Use me?" Violet asked, voice small. For the first time in a while, she was allowing herself to cuddle into Brion's side. Dick wondered what Helga had said to make her so withdrawn and angry. M'gann had said that she'd been skipping school and had been caught doing illegal activities with a friend of hers.

No one got a chance to answer that before the front door was caved in.

Dick was proud of the kids – they pulled themselves into ready positions in _seconds_. He was even more proud of the Rogues, though. They'd thrown themselves in front of the kids, arms held out as if that alone would stop harm from getting through.

It turned out, though, that it wasn't harm to the superhero kids that they should have worried about.

In the broken doorway to the Hub, Vandal Savage stood, an unconscious, bound Lian Harper held tightly in his grip.


	29. Chapter 29

DDDDDD

Dick felt his breath catch in his throat. This was Lian. This was one of Dick's best friend's kid. The girl was practically Dick's niece. And now, there she was, taken captive by one of the worst bad guys of the time. Savage was the one they'd been fighting for years. Dick had been _thirteen_ when he first faced off against Savage. He was _twenty_ now and still hadn't defeated the man. Because of that, because Dick hadn't managed to take Savage down, Lian was unconscious and held hostage by him. This was all Dick's fault.

Swallowing hard, Dick pushed away the guilt and grief and horror. He wasn't Batman, but he'd need to draw on Batman's stoicism for the moment. He needed that ability to shove away all his emotions and fears just long enough to take Savage _out_ and get Lian back. Violet and Tara, who had lived with the Harpers for a while and had come to love them as family, were clearly furious, hands shaking at their sides and eyes locked on Savage. It was too bad neither of them had laser vision because Dick was pretty sure they'd have managed to take Savage out by now.

Dick stepped forward, putting as much authority into his voice as he could, "Savage. Let her go."

"Be quiet," Savage countered, face drawn in an emotion that Dick couldn't immediately identify. Savage continued, "I have no intention of hurting her. She will stay alive as long as you follow my instructions and listen to my commands." Dick didn't nod, but Savage must have taken that as assent because he continued after a moment, "I have information for you. Information and a plan for you to follow. I _doubt_ that you will be able to achieve this goal but there are no other options at this point. The world will _end_ if you do not listen to me."

"Yeah, yeah, they got it," Len drawled. Dick understood that Len had a man who could control weather on his team and regularly fought someone who ran _way_ faster than sound, but seeing someone who was skirting the edge of villainy (not that Dick would _ever _say that in front of Len or Mick) with no superpowers stand up to someone like _Vandal Savage_ never failed to amaze Dick. It had happened in the past when a supervillain was encroaching on Rogue turf or when Flash needed help with something. Len was just a man, but nothing phased him. He could be looking at the end of the world and he'd just raise an eyebrow, maybe sigh a little bit. Len continued once he was sure he'd gotten Savage's attention, "Maybe you can move onto this plan you've got. Or, maybe, you could actually tell us what the threat is."

Savage growled, but acquiesced, "There is a threat that the whole world is facing. I have managed to fend him off for centuries, but he has come back now. I fear the world will not last much longer without stopping him. His name is Darkseid." Slowly, Savage explained his first meeting with Darkseid on the plains of a different country, in a very different time. He spoke of Desaad's prediction that the key to Darkseid's desired Anti-Life Equation would be found within a metahuman. Dick started to get a bad feeling about what Savage wanted Violet for. Savage explained how he'd worked for years to increase the number of metahumans across the world, going through each and every one of them to ensure that they were not the one that Darkseid spoke of. Savage led them through his realization that Violet _was_ the key to the Anti-Life Equation, that Darkseid would soon know that his chance to complete his masterpiece was finally there.

"You said he's taken apart worlds," Len accused. The other Rogues were pale and clearly scared behind him, no better than the kids behind Dick. Len asked, "How do you expect to defeat him?"

"You have to hide the girl known as Halo," Savage answered, "She cannot be found by Darkseid or any of his associates. G. Gordon Godfrey and Granny Goodness are both trusted followers of Darkseid."

"Does he have a thing for people with G names?" Dick heard Jaime mutter somewhere in the back.

Len leveled an unimpressed glare on Savage, "That didn't answer my question. How do we defeat Darkseid? How do we imprison him?"

Savage laughed. It jostled Lian, who was still slung over his shoulder. Dick's heart clenched at the sight. Savage needed to let Lian go _now_ or Dick wouldn't be held accountable for his actions. Savage sneered at them, "You cannot _imprison_ Darkseid. Capturing him would merely be an inconvenience. No human prison can hold him."

"Then we get a prison from a different planet," Dick argued. He couldn't believe that Savage was sitting there, trying to convince them to kill someone. He had to know that he was talking to the wrong people. Dick raised his eyebrows, "We'll call in the Green Lanterns. They can trap him in a science cell. It works all the time."

"Fool," Savage spat, "Do you believe that no one has escaped from one of those before? The _only_ way to ensure that Darkseid stops his tirade and does not once again set his sights on Earth is to _kill_ him."

"You've basically described him as unkillable," Garfield pointed out, fighting valiantly to ensure that his voice didn't shake.

Savage sighed, "Do you truly think that I would kidnap one of your children and place myself in one of your headquarters without knowing a plan to kill Darkseid?"

Len sighed again, clearly taking on the brunt of Savage's ire. Dick wondered how any of the Rogues could convince themselves that they were real villains. Then he remembered some of their attacks and figured that, based on property damage and copious amounts of glitter alone, they counted as real villains. Len settled his steely gaze on Savage, "Answer the question. How. Do. We. Take. Out. Darkseid."

"Momentum," Savage answered. Dick's breath caught in his throat. Of course. Of _course_, it was Wally. When was it not?

Vic squinted at Savage but mumbled his question to Jaime, "Does he mean the _person_ Momentum or, like, the physics thing momentum?"

Savage looked like he was seconds away from killing everyone in the room. Dick eyed Lian worriedly, "Why don't you set Lian down at the very least? She can't be comfortable slung over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes."

Savage glared at him for a long, _long_ moment before he finally set Lian down. He kept her close to him and she was still unconscious, but it was one step closer than it had been before. A vice that had formed around Dick's heart loosened. He felt like he could breathe again. And with that came a clarity of mind, too. He narrowed his eyes on Savage, "You know where Momentum was during his missing six months."

"How do you figure that?" Sam threw out, marking the first time one of the other Rogues spoke in Savage's presence.

Dick frowned, "Luthor said that he discovered it, but he's been in prison. But, shortly after Luthor discovered it, Savage starts taking an interest in Momentum, to the point of trying to use Helga to get to him. Luthor must have sent his report to Savage. And something about those missing months must, in Savage's mind, be the key to defeating Darkseid."

"Very good," Savage mocked, "You managed to figure out that much. However, I was told that Momentum would be here today. Where is he?"

"Out," Len answered shortly.

Dick followed up when Savage leaned towards Lian slightly, "He ran. Kid Flash ran after him. I don't know what they're doing."

"Call him. Bring him back," Savage commanded.

Len raised a single eyebrow, "Why should I?"

"Did you miss the hostage I have?" Savage asked incredulously, nudging Lian with his leg. Dick's heart fluttered in his chest at the sight.

Len rolled his eyes, "Not my kid, not my problem." One of the teenagers behind them started coughing, probably startled. Dick was fairly certain that they were bluffing. Well, relatively certain. Kind of. Len was hard to read.

Savage laughed incredulously, "And how will _Wally_ feel when his goddaughter is killed due to your inaction?" A muscle jumped in Len's jaw, but he made no other movement. He kept his unimpressed look and stared down the supervillain. Dick could see Savage getting angrier the longer the stare-off went on.

Eventually, Len pulled out his cell phone. He quickly punched in a number. There was only a pause before it started ringing. The problem was, it was ringing to a phone in that same room. Hesitantly, Hartley walked over to where Wally had been standing earlier. He sighed, eyelids falling shut momentarily, before he plucked out Wally's stupid Flash-themed cell phone (a part of Dick, hysterical and locked away in the back of his mind, reminded him that Wally really needed an updated phone – at this point, that phone was almost four years old).

Savage's voice was flat and distinctly unamused when he asked, "Momentum left his phone here?"

"I'm always telling him to not do that," Mark grumbled, sighing. Jason, clearly having lost his sense of self-preservation at some point, started laughing at the situation. Savage looked like he was seconds away from losing it.

Teeth grinding, Savage demanded, "Tell me you have another way to contact him."

"He didn't give us a chance to grab our comms this morning," Len shrugged nonchalantly. Dick figured that he wanted to stop emulating Batman in these situations and start emulating Len.

Savage took a deep breath in. He let it out, sounding marginally calmer, "Find him."

WWWWWW

"That was great timing," Wally said. He'd breezed into Uncle Barry's house, looking to see if he had any information about Bart's DNA hidden in the usual spots. Instead, he'd found Uncle Barry, the information about Bart's DNA, the information about _Barry's_ DNA, and an Aunt Iris who was especially concerned with ensuring that Wally and Bart ate.

Bart grinned at him from over his enormous helping of leftover pasta, "Right? Totally crash. See anything interesting yet?"

Barry had wanted to stay and look over the information, but he'd been nearing the end of his lunch break anyways and the rest of the family had shooed him away. Bart claimed that he wasn't confident enough in genetics to even have a clue what was going on, so Wally had been left to look over the information while Bart eyed the cookies on the counter contemplatively.

Wally hummed, "I mean, there are definite differences. So far, most of them seem normal. They vibrate at different speeds, but we've always noted a difference in that between different speedsters. There's no decay to indicate normal super strenuous for speedster activities. No signs of physical manipulation of my DNA. The only difference that doesn't feel normal is the difference in tachyon particle levels. I mean, Barry's tachyon levels had always been higher than mine. I honestly had never seen a speedster with higher tachyon levels than Barry. Until now. Somehow, with something I did, my tachyon particle concentration increased. That has to be the clue because nothing else is weird."

"Tachyon particle," Bart muttered, "Where do I know that term from?"

"Tachyon is what the Light called me," Wally offered. He didn't want to think about it, but that was the only thing that was clicking for him at the moment. There was something telling him that there was more information there, but that was the only one his brain was reminding him of.

Bart sighed, "No, no, I'm pretty sure there's something else."

Wally tried to push past the year and a half of Light memories. They weren't important at the moment. They were just making him anxious and distracting him from what he really wanted to focus on. There were some fundamental things that he knew: he was a speedster. He had gotten faster. He had (somehow) more tachyon particles than Barry and Bart. This was important. But how? What was Wally missing? What did Luthor figure out?

Wally's eyes widened as a thought came to him. It had been a long time since he'd had the conversation with Uncle Barry and Grandpa Jay, but they'd talked about it. All of that had been purely theoretical, though. And if it was true, then… how did he end up in Antarctica?

Wally pressed his hand to his forehead as his head started to throb. He gasped out when a spike of pain hit him right between the eyes. With it came a flash of memory:

_Wally wasn't sure he even really noticed when the blasts of energy started. It was just a little jolt here and there for long moments. Nothing bad. Then, as they started to beat the thing, the blasts became strong, huge bolts that crashed into Wally, almost knocking him off his feet. He grunted when one hit him, knocking his breath out. It burned through him, feeling like the lightning that struck him that fateful day all those years ago._

_"Bart, we need to slow down, try to siphon off some of the energy that's attacking Wally!" Flash yelled. Wally wondered why they even bothered with code names when they never actually used them._

_Still, that didn't stop Wally from gasping, "It's no good Barry. Man, Nightwing is so going to kill me for this. And don't even get me started on the Rogues." He could feel himself fading. His skin tingled and his back twitched and he could literally see through his hand. This was it. This was how he died. As a _hero_. That was certainly not the way he'd been planning._

_"Kid!" Flash cried out, expression crumpling._

_He couldn't stop it, though. None of them could. With the last of his energy, with the last vestiges of whatever part of him remained there, Wally gasped out, "Just tell them, okay?"_

_And then he was gone._

Wally slammed a hand down on the table to steady himself when he came back to. Bart had darted over to his side of the table by that point, a hand on Wally's back and another to his forehead. He asked worriedly, "You okay? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Shaking his head, Wally squeezed his eyes shut, "No, I'm fine. I just…" He trailed off as another burst of pain shattered through his mind, sending him reeling into another memory:

_The memory didn't form correctly. Wally couldn't quite see where he was, but he could _feel_ it. He liked where he was. It might have been the most peaceful he'd ever felt in his life. He didn't have to worry about anything there. None of the others would judge him. They knew that he had sinned just like he knew that they had sinned. But they were given a chance at something good here, something pure. Wally just had to keep going on, to keep existing in this place. Maybe this was the atonement he searched for sometimes, when it was late at night and he'd spent the day surrounded by heroes, constantly reminded that there were people who dedicated their lives to stopping people like him._

Memories kept rushing in:

\- _Wally could hear people whispering all the time. They spoke of nice things, of peace, of the desire to stay where they were. The whispers never stopped and Wally thought that he would be quite lonely if they ever did. Why, the silence might even drive him mad. Sometimes the whispers spoke in languages that he was sure he didn't know – alien languages and dead tongues – but the words always seemed to make perfect sense to him regardless. How was that possible? The whispers continued and whispered only answers and assurances. –_

_\- Wally could feel himself getting faster and stronger with each passing moment. The energy raced and crashed and crackled through his veins, lighting up his skin, merging with him in a way he'd never considered before. How had he never thought of his speed this way before? How had he never realized its true strength and power? Wally wasn't a speedster. He was _speed_ in a way that he wasn't sure the other speedsters knew _how_ to be. Maybe Uncle Barry. Uncle Barry always seemed to know stuff about his speed that the others didn't. The Flash may be a villain, but Wally would always see him as the paradigm of what he wanted to become, of what a speedster should be. –_

_\- Wally missed Dick. He missed everyone, of course, but there was an ache in his bones from how much he missed Dick. Did Dick miss him, too? Was he out there, mourning Wally's loss? Or had he moved on? How long had Wally spent in this place? Had time even passed? Wally was confused and fading. He felt like he was losing himself. Was he speed or was he human? That question became harder and harder to answer the longer he spent there, the stronger he got. He felt, at the moment, that he could answer that he was human, still. It might take a lot of thinking and he might have to throw his memories back, back, back to a time when the question would have been easy to answer, but he was sure that he was still human. And the human part of him missed Dick. He missed the way Dick would cackle. He missed coming home and seeing his boyfriend smile up at him from the couch. He missed going to a lake and splashing around in the water with Brucely joyously joining in. Wally decided. He was going to find Dick. He was going to go back and find Dick and tell him that he was still alive. And… if Dick had moved on, Wally could always come back. It wouldn't be too hard. He'd managed it once, when he was weaker. He could manage it now. But for the moment? All that mattered was finding the love of his life. –_

Wally jerked back into awareness at the sound of the home phone ringing. His hands were shaking, and his feet felt numb. Bart glanced between Wally and the phone for a few long moments before he finally moved over to answer it. Wally continued to shake in his seat. He couldn't even hear the conversation being had. What was that? Were… were those really Wally's memories? Had that really happened?

Breath rattling through his body, Wally buried his head in his hands, pushing away the half-eaten plate of food. The only thing that pulled him out of his spiral was Bart shaking his shoulder and saying insistently, "Wally, we gotta go. Savage kidnapped Lian and is demanding that you go to the Hub and speak to him?"

"Seriously?" Wally breathed out, trying to control his thundering heart, trying to stop the tremors in his hands. Could Savage have any worse timing? The rest of Bart's words caught up to him and Wally stood fast enough to leave his head spinning. He staggered against the chair even as he grit out, "Savage took Lian? He took _my_ goddaughter?"

"Wally," Bart said seriously. There was no fear in his voice, no recrimination, just firm belief, "You need to calm down. If you go in like this, you're going to scare everyone again."

Wally took in several deep breaths, feeling them rattle down his lungs, feeling his chest move up and down. Things suddenly felt weightless and disconnected. Was he floating? Wally shook his head, trying to get it screwed on straight. He needed to be less distracted. Lian was on this line this time. He just – he just had to ignore everything he'd just realized, all the memories that were pounding at the inside of his skull.

Bart swallowed slightly, looking young and scared, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Wally said. He pasted on a pale smile, "Remembered some things. I don't really know if I wanted them back or not."

Bart grimaced, "I know that feeling. Ready?"

"Ready," Wally confirmed. The two of them shot off. After a moment, Wally turned to Bart, "Why did we get that call at the Allen home phone?"

"Uh," Bart began sheepishly, "Turns out we both forgot our phones at the Hub?"

Wally groaned, "I can already hear Len yelling at me. Never go on a run without a secure method of communication. How do I know you haven't been kidnapped or hurt or ran out of food or money if I can't talk to you? You know what – you should have _at least two_ modes of communication on you at all times."

Bart grimaced again, "Would you believe that I have heard that _exact_ same speech from Barry before?"

"Don't know if that's disturbing or cute, but I'm leaning towards disturbing," Wally said. Bart snorted.

They arrived at the Hub.

Both of them blew straight through security, merely phasing through each of the boundaries (Wally was going to have to mention that to the Outsiders – their base was ridiculously easy to get into. Maybe he could get the other Rogues and they could steal from the Outsiders one day to show them how bad their security was). It didn't take them long at all to get to where the others were waiting, Lian, unconscious, leaning against Savage's leg.

Wally didn't let that go on for even one second longer. He blew past Savage, using the speed he'd built up from the long run, and grabbed Lian. He skidded to a stop when he was on the other side of the room, cradling the girl in his arms. He was glad that she was still unconscious for all of this. The less trauma she had when all was said and done, the better.

Wally glared at Savage as he handed Lian off to Bart. He still felt off-kilter and his head ached fiercely and the last thing he wanted to do was face off against one of his childhood nightmares, but Savage hadn't given him a choice. Wally growled, "What? I'm here, so what do you want?" He made sure to tone it down, though. This wasn't the light show that he'd given Helga. He'd make sure to avoid that at all costs from now on. He never wanted his family, his friends to look at him like that again.

Savage sneered, "So, you're finally here. It took you long enough. I need you for a plan to save the world!"

"Not interested," Wally cut off immediately. One of the kids behind him snorted and tried to disguise it as a cough.

Savage growled, "This world – and many others – will _die_ if you continue to act childish and selfish!"

Wally rolled his eyes, "Someone want to catch me up?"

"There's a big bad named Darkseid who can't be captured by anyone and can only be killed by you. He's super powerful and obnoxious and likes taking over planets. He wants to take away all free will in the universe using Halo over there. Savage has been working out a way to stop him for, like, centuries and only apparently just now figured it out," Hartley summarized. Savage was fuming in the front of the room.

"Rogues don't kill," Wally answered immediately, turning back to face Savage.

Savage rolled his eyes, "Then don't think of it like _killing_. Momentum, you are the only one who can destroy him. I would take a different speedster – _any_ different speedster, but the only ones I have access to haven't been where you've been."

Dick's eyes widened and he glanced between Savage and Wally, "Where he's been? Are you talking about his missing months?"

"I am," Savage answered evenly, apparently having gotten back some of his control.

Wally clenched his jaw. The memories were swirling faster through him. His heart ached. His head ached. His _soul_ ached. He grit his teeth and said, "I won't do it."

"What's going on?" Dick asked, echoed by several of the others. Wally could see his family and Tara peering at him worriedly. Even Brion was giving him a look of concern.

Wally shook his head, "I won't do it. I know what you want me to do and I _won't_ do it."

Savage shook his own head, "Then you condemn all of us to death."

This couldn't be real. This couldn't be the only option. Wally refused to believe it. He just – it just – it wasn't _fair_. Len's voice cut through the panic welling in Wally's chest, "Wally. Tell us what's going on. We'll help."

"You can't," Wally blurted. Once he started, the words wouldn't stop coming, "You can't help. I just – I _just_ remembered where I was. Bart and I were comparing our, our biology and the only real difference I could see was that my tachyon particle concentrations were much higher than his and Barry's but I couldn't think of why that would be but then I – then I thought of it and the memories came back and I _can't_." Dick reached over and gripped Wally's hand, tightening his hold and slowly but surely pulling Wally back from the brink. Wally pressed his eyelids shut and said, "I was _inside_ the Speed Force for all six of those months. I don't really understand how I got out. It's… addictive in there. I've never felt such peace in my life. I just remember loving Dick so much. I remember wanting to see him, wanting to see _all_ of you. I remember knowing that if I fully allowed myself to succumb to the Speed Force, I would never be able to see you again and I couldn't let that happen. But… Savage wants me to trap Darkseid in the Speed Force. He thinks I'll be able to get it open fast enough to pull Darkseid in without being defeated first. I… this must have been what Ra's al Ghul meant. This was why he took me and trained me. He needed me to be ready for this. What a piece of _trash_."

Garfield spoke hesitantly, staring warily at the expressions around him, ranging from confused to gob-smacked, "Why can't you, then? That sounds relatively easy, right? Am I misunderstanding something here?"

Wally glanced up, expression flat, "I won't be able to resist the pull if I do that. I'll drag Darkseid in, yeah, but I'll drag myself, too. And I can't escape from that another time. I just can't. I'm not strong enough to fight that pull." He paused and stared at his family, at his fiancé, "The moment I find myself in the Speed Force again will be the moment I disappear from this world permanently."


	30. Chapter 30

DDDDDD

Dick felt his heart pound in his throat. Disappear from the world completely? What on Earth was Wally talking about? In the front of the room, Savage was giving a lecture on his grand plan to lure Darkseid into a trap that would end with Wally pulling him into the Speed Force. That would end with Wally essentially _dying_ again.

The Speed Force. Wally had been in the Speed Force the whole time? Admittedly, Dick understood very little of the Speed Force. He was a mathlete, yes, but energy fields and cosmic forces? That was beyond his level of understanding. Wally had tried to explain it to him one time. He'd sat Dick down and told him that there was a source to a speedster's powers. He'd told Dick that speedsters didn't _run fast_. They _were_ fast. They were given the ability to disregard the laws of physics by the Speed Force, which was a location/energy source/sentient being made of cosmic energy and based around velocity and movement. Dick had been, understandably, confused. Speedsters weren't speedsters? But they were. Their ability to disregard normal physics was focused on the ideas of velocity and movement which meant that they used their speed to disregard physics. From what Dick understood.

That certainly made _some_ sense. Speedsters did things that didn't necessarily adhere to natural laws. For example, Dick had seen Barry run on clouds. His explanation? He was running so fast that it _froze the water molecules_ and allowed him to run on the ice he made under his feet. This was despite the fact that, in every other case ever, a speedster's enhanced speed went hand in hand with enhanced _heat_ which would indicate that the cloud would evaporate under his feet. But apparently not. Wally had said that was part of their ability as vessels for the Speed Force. That was where Dick really started to lose track of the conversation. He could get behind the idea of the Speed Force as an energy source. It made some kind of sense. But the Speed Force as a place? As a – a _thing_ capable of _choosing _speedsters? What did that mean?

Wally hadn't been able to completely explain it. At a certain point, he'd given up, shrugged, and said that it was hard to explain to a non-speedster. Dick had accepted the answer with the thought of going back to research the idea again later. Except, Wally had died, and the idea had drifted away.

Except, Wally _didn't_ die. He was stuck in that forsaken Speed Force. Wally hadn't explained more than that. He'd simply went silent after his declaration and allowed Savage to go on and on about his master plan.

It was making Dick furious. Was that all Wally had to say? Was he really just going to leave it at that? Was he _considering_ going along with Savage's insanity? Wally had to know that they would find another way. They _always_ found another way. That was just how things worked. If they didn't find another way, then what was the point of all this? What was the point of Dick trying so hard to find Wally if Wally was just going to up and die again?

Dick's heart squeezed painfully at the thought. He didn't mean that. He would never mean that. He was just emotional and stressed. Lian had been freed from her bounds at that point, but she was still unconscious and being watched over by Jaime and Bart. Vandal Savage himself was stood at the front of the room, scowling at them and, in his own twisted way, trying to help.

Which was – overwhelming in its own way. Vandal Savage? Helping people? Was he really trying to convince the rest of them that everything he'd done from the moment Darkseid first landed on Earth to this point was to _stop_ Darkseid? Was he trying to convince them that the people he killed, the lives he ruined, the hurt he left behind was in the name of saving the world? That was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. It was like Savage honestly believed that this absolved him of everything he'd done. Was watching Wally be manipulated and experimented on a part of the plan? Could Savage honestly say that Wally's horrible childhood was some part of his grand idea, his great manipulation?

If he even _tried_ to insinuate that, to weasel his way out of his guilt, then Dick was going to _take him down_.

Before Dick even realized it, Wally was standing next to him, holding his hand and rubbing soothing circles into the bit of skin just behind his thumb. Subconsciously, Dick felt himself relax. Wally always knew how to make him feel better, just like Dick always knew how to make Wally feel better. That's why they were a team. That's why they were the _best_ team, even if they were on opposite sides, technically.

Well, they _used_ to be a team. Dick tugged his hand out of Wally's hold, ignoring the pain in his chest when he caught the hurt, scared look Wally gave him. Wally was – was _considering_ this ridiculous proposal. He was _considering_ leaving Dick again and Dick couldn't forgive that. He just couldn't. If Wally died again, then Dick was going to go with him. There was nothing else for it. Dick just wouldn't survive something like that again. And until they had that conversation and Wally admitted that he _wasn't_ considering this _stupid _idea, then Dick was mad at him and didn't want his comfort.

In the front of the room, Savage wound down from his speech, "There will, of course, be a power vacuum in the universe once Darkseid in gone. He has amassed quite the collection of planets over his years. That, I'm afraid, will have to be dealt with separately. I've established to the universe that Earth is not to be trifled with, especially with the War Planet patrolling around it, but there will be necessary clean-up in other parts of the universe."

Len stepped forward, voice ice cold, "Your plan needs work. We'll go through it with the heroes, rework it, and then enact it. What are you going to be doing during this? You know the heroes aren't going to just let you go." He was talking like Dick and the others weren't even in the room.

Savage stared at him evenly, "I am willing to turn myself in. But, consider what I just said. The Earth is safe because the War Planet that _I_ control and that only _I_ can enter at the moment is ready to attack. Additionally, the likelihood of you luring Darkseid to Earth without me is negligible. You need me. You need me to be _free_ if you want this to have a chance of working, _rework_ or not."

Dick stepped forward to take over, being the oldest hero currently in the room. It wouldn't do to have this deal and conversation happening through a supervillain. He glared at Savage, "You cannot go without answering for your crimes."

"I am aware," Savage smirked, "But I also cannot start 'answering for my crimes' before Darkseid in dealt with. We both know that."

"Will you turn yourself in after Darkseid is defeated?" Dick returned.

Savage chuckled, "You and I both know the answer to that, little hero." Dick grit his teeth; he did know. Savage sighed, "Once Darkseid is defeated, I will have less of a reason to hide so firmly in the shadows. We will return to a cat and mouse game, but it will be a different one. Maybe you will find it easier. Maybe you will even catch me at some point." He smirked again, showing them that he highly, highly doubted that.

Dick felt a muscle pop in his jaw, but he finally growled, "Leave." They watched as Savage walked out of the room. Seven years fighting the same villain and Dick just watched him walk out. It made him furious. Once Savage was gone, Dick turned to the rest of the group, "I know that a lot has happened today. Right now, what we all need to do is rest. You can work on the information about Luthor for a little bit longer if you'd like, but you should sleep at some point. I'll take care of talking to the Justice League, the Team, Batman Inc., and Infinity Inc. about everything that's happened today. Jason, can you take Lian back to Will and Jade? Thanks."

He nodded and the group dispersed, whispering to each other furiously as they wrapped up thoughts and ideas in the Luthor case. Garfield and Jefferson dragged a hysterical Helga to the secure cells in the Hub. Jason gently grabbed Lian and walked purposefully towards the zeta beam with her (Dick did not envy his brother that job – Jade was going to be a force to be reckoned with once she realizes that Savage took her kid under her nose).

That left Wally and the Rogues standing together near one of the side tables. Wally was stood slightly apart from them, eyes downcast. The Rogues looked like they didn't know what to say, eyes flitting between each other, clearly hoping someone else would speak first.

Dick sighed and stepped forward, resolutely not looking at Wally, "Thank you for everything you guys have done and are doing. We appreciate your help through all this. I can call you when we meet tomorrow to go over the plan, okay?"

"Okay," Len said evenly. He was watching Dick from under hooded eyes. It made Dick's hair stand on end. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd failed some sort of test that Len had given him.

Wally interrupted the tense silence that fell after Len's statement, "Dick, can we go to our place and talk? Just for a little bit? I'm – I'm going to have to go back to the Rogues tonight and explain everything to them, but we need to talk."

"Why don't you just go ahead and go home with them?" Dick asked, still not looking at his fiancé, "It doesn't really matter anyways."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Digger shouted. He shoved Sam towards them. Sam stumbled for a second, but quickly righted himself and grabbed the two of them by their jackets. Dick didn't even get a chance to protest before he was dragged into the Mirror Dimension.

He gasped for air and resisted the urge to heave when he finally made it out. A spike of instinctual panic lashed through him when he realized that they had been deposited outside the large mirror in the hallway of their Bludhaven apartment block. Dick sighed; apparently the Rogues were playing at fixing relationships.

Jaw clenched, Dick started stalking for his – their – _his_ apartment, "You might as well come in, then." Wally followed meekly behind him and Dick felt his irritation spike again.

The irritation faded away, however, when he caught sight of Wally's face once they'd both sat down in the worn loveseat. Dick swallowed around the lump in his throat as Wally melted into the couch cushion, wonder stealing across his expression. For a moment, Wally didn't say anything or even look at Dick. He just ran his fingers across the material of the couch, the ghost of a smile touching his lips even as tears welled in his eyes. Wally quietly admitted, "I saw the apartment when I came here to get the ring back, but… it's different like this. Feeling it, really experiencing it. I've missed this so much."

Dick opened his mouth to answer (he had no idea what he could have said to something as heart wrenching as that) when the furious sound of nails clicking and clacking and sliding against the floor echoed across the apartment. Seconds later, Brucely threw himself into the room, slamming into Wally's knees and scrabbling up and over, onto the couch. Wally laughed delightedly, gathering Brucely to him and just burying his face in Brucely's fur.

Abruptly, Dick felt himself soften the rest of the way. What was he doing? Wally had been back for how long? They'd been engaged for how long? And Dick was already ready to start a fight? No, that wasn't entirely fair. It wasn't just Dick who was ready to fight over something. He knew Wally enough to know that, in this specific instance, he wouldn't have even tried to de-escalate that conversation.

So, Dick gave himself a little bit of time to calm down. He watched Wally pet through Brucely's fur and touch the couch with wonder in his eyes and gaze around the room with a longing that broke Dick's heart. Once he felt like he could have the conversation without screaming, Dick said, "I love you, Wally."

Wally glanced at up at him, tentative walls built up in his eyes, "I love you too, Dick. You know that."

Dick gave him a smile, "I know, Walls. Of course, I know that. You basically told us that you escaped from the Speed Force simply through your love for me. Could you, um, give more detail on that?"

Wally frowned slightly, "I can try. I got headaches and flashbacks when I was thinking about it earlier. I would like to avoid more of that. But it's not like there's a lot to tell. I was running. I wasn't even running fast. You know me, I was always the slowest. Since I was the slowest, though, the MFD attacked me. It kept shooting me with its weird lightning. I would bet that the attacks supercharged me and heightened the kinetic energy in my body to a state high enough that I was able to connect to the Speed Force and open it. And of course it let me in. That's my point."

"I don't understand," Dick said cautiously. The way Wally was talking about the Speed Force was making him nervous. There was a longing to his tone that Dick didn't want to think about.

Wally frowned again in concentration, "I can't prove this, of course. The Speed Force is, largely, just another speedster mystery and we leave it at that. After spending time in it, though, I could feel more from it. The Speed Force… is a, uh, a living thing. Kind of. It's not living in the way that _humans_ look at it, but it's living in the way that the _universe_ looks at living things. It can think and perform actions and it needs sustenance. All of that. I think. That's the feeling I got from being inside of it."

"Are you saying that you were food?" Dick asked incredulously.

"No!" Wally yelped, "Not really!"

"Not really?" Dick repeated slowly.

Wally sighed, "Look, this is hard to explain, okay? So, the Speed Force is a conglomeration of kinetic energy, of _speed_. Every once in a while, it finds a suitable candidate and it gives speedster abilities to that candidate. That person then spends their life getting strong and faster and accumulating more speed and kinetic energy. Then, when the person dies, they become one with the speedster, returning the gift they had been given and then giving the Speed Force all that extra energy in return. Sometimes, though, people enter the Speed Force in a different way. Sometimes, they run fast enough or gather enough kinetic energy that the Speed Force considers them ready to come home. Then -,"

Dick cut Wally off, "No. Not home. The Speed Force isn't your home, Wally. _This_ is your home. Central is your home. This _freaky_ Speed Force thing _isn't_ your home."

Wally reached out as if to give Dick some physical comfort, but then he flinched back and drew into himself again. Dick winced when he remembered tugging his hand out of Wally's grip. He didn't move, though. He needed Wally to admit that the Speed Force wasn't his home. He needed to know that Wally believed that.

Sighing again, Wally wrapped his arms around Brucely and looked Dick in the eye, "Babe, wherever you go is home. You know that. It's just – I can't describe what it feels like to be in the Speed Force. You've heard me and Barry and some of the others talk about how lonely being a speedster can be, right? You remember that? Exactly. Being in the Speed Force is like being in a place that was specifically designed to _perfectly_ match your taste without ever being boring where you're surrounded by people who support, love, and understand you. Everyone's like you. But in a way that's not obnoxious. I don't know how else to explain it. But _obviously_, I prefer it here with you. I would have never gotten out otherwise. I'm still not really sure _how_ I got out. I just know that it was because I was thinking of you and missing you so much."

Dick felt his eyes fill with tears that he refused to let fall. Hesitantly, slowly, Wally leaned forward and rested his palm against Dick's cheek, swiping the tears away with his thumb. Dick took in a hitched breath. Wally pulled his head in so they were leaning their foreheads against each other, "I'm with you, Dick. Forever. It might have taken me a while to get to that point, to escape and then make my way through the next several issues, but I came back to you. I always will."

That was all it took for Dick to lean forward fully and cry into Wally's shoulder. A part of him hated that he was doing this, that he was crying into Wally's shoulder when, by all rights, it should be Wally who was upset. But Wally would never begrudge Dick this. Never.

When Dick was finally done crying, he pulled back and looked up at Wally with red-rimmed eyes, "What are you going to do?"

Wally sighed, "What else can I do, Dick?"

"I can't lose you again," Dick warned. He wondered about what Wally said. Dick was never really quite sure what he believed in when it came to what happened after death. Wally apparently already had that one figured out for himself. He was going back to the Speed Force once he died. Dick wondered if the Speed Force would take him too, just so he could still be with Wally.

Wally's fingers tightened in Dick's jacket, "I'll talk to the Rogues. And Barry and Bart and Jay and Johnny and Max and Jesse and any other speedster I can find. We'll figure out a way to get out of this, okay? I promise, at the end of all of this, I'll still be with you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Dick warned.

Wally didn't answer. He just tucked Dick's head under his chin and held him.


	31. Chapter 31

WWWWWW

Wally was more nervous for this conversation than he had been for the one with Dick. And he'd gone into the one with Dick expecting a fight, so that was saying something. But Wally just couldn't get the image of the Rogues all staring at him in horror and fear out of his head. He couldn't shake the feeling of a man dying under his hands. He couldn't ignore the thought that _Rogues don't kill_ and the idea that they probably found him repulsive now and didn't know how to show it. The idea of that _killed_ Wally inside, but it was all he could think about.

Still, he went home as soon as he and Dick felt like they could extract themselves from each other without ripping their souls apart. He raced home and then stood in front of the door like an idiot, hopelessly nervous and anxious and afraid.

There was a chance that Wally would have never gone in if James hadn't slowly opened the door, peaking curiously through the crack. James brightened when he saw Wally and threw the door open as quietly as he could. James allowed the door to shut behind him and dragged Wally down so they were sitting cross-legged on the porch. Wally followed James' wordless instruction without protest. His words were locked in his throat, still.

James started talking before Wally could even try, "This is still your house. You can come in whenever you want, you know."

"I know," Wally answered evenly.

James glanced over at him, crooked smile lighting up his features, "Didn't seem like it, the way you were just standing there."

Wally hesitated before admitting, "It's not the place I was unsure of." Normally, he wouldn't say this kind of stuff to James. It just distressed him or increased his rambunctiousness or his down moods if he was having a medium or bad day. But he seemed relatively clear that day. There was a clarity that, since Wally was last there, seemed to be fading more and more each day.

James leaned against Wally's shoulder, "You _never_ have to be afraid of us."

"Even when you're afraid of me?" Wally whispered. A shudder went through him as he tried to stop a sob from escaping.

James leaned away so he could look Wally in the face. He looked confused and concerned, "Afraid? We're not afraid."

Abruptly, Wally felt himself getting frustrated. Right. Of course. No one was afraid of him. That makes sense. They were just making those faces for the fun of it. Right. Wally stood up, prepared to ignore that part of the situation for as long as everyone else was apparently prepared to ignore it. Before he could get more than a couple steps away, though, James grabbed his ankle and yanked him back.

Wally scowled, but had no choice but to go back and sit on the steps. Childishly, Wally turned his head to the side, away from James.

"Wally, we're really, really, really not scared of you. Pinky promise! You just looked kinda scary with all that lightning. And, well, you don't really get mad, you know? Or if you do, it's not like that. We just didn't know _how_ to react to something like that. It wasn't fear. Maybe fear is what it looked like, but we really just didn't know how to react," James tried to explain.

Taking a deep breath in, Wally tried to understand the situation from their point of view. It had been over two years since they had had regular contact with Wally. During that time, his powers had increased exponentially. He knew that. Like Bart said, the light show over his skin was probably a whole lot more impressive that time than it had been in the past. And, like Bart had said, people weren't used to seeing people mad. They were used to seeing Wally scowl and get irritated, but not mad. That wasn't an emotion that could really be applied to most speedsters. At least, not to the speedsters who were decent people. The truly awful speedsters were the ones who gave into rage and let it control them. Rage and the powers they had did not go well together.

Abruptly, Wally remembered Bart asking him if the others were afraid of him or if _Wally_ was afraid of _himself_. After what James said? And everything that Wally had thought? It was starting to look more and more like the latter.

Wally let out a slow breath, scrubbing over his face tiredly, "Okay."

"Okay?" James asked slowly, "That doesn't sound like you believe me."

"I… I don't, James. I'm sorry, but I can't right now. My brain's so scrambled and sometimes I feel like I'm still _stuck_ in that lab where no one even knows I'm alive and sometimes I feel like I'm still in the Speed Force and sometimes I can't even tell where I am and – and I can't believe that. But I'll… accept it. For now. Until I do believe it," Wally said.

James stared at him with tragic eyes, but Wally just focused on his hands. He was tired and he was scared. Scared of himself. Scared of the future. Scared of everything, apparently. Eventually, James stood up and offered his hand to Wally, "Come on, let's go back inside. Everyone's waiting for you."

"That's what I'm worried about," Wally muttered, but he still took James's hand.

Cautiously, Wally walked inside. It wasn't the safehouse he'd been staying at since the Rogues had gotten him back. He liked this one, though. It was one of their larger ones, with a huge backyard and no neighbors, way on the outskirts of town. He wondered what sort of things he'd left behind at this one. Sure, he'd gotten his memories back, but it had been two years since he'd been in any safehouses and they had _a lot_ of them. It wasn't surprising that he couldn't remember where all his stuff was. A little sad, but unsurprising.

They were all gathered in the living room, quietly chatting about something or another. Their expressions were drawn and there were stress lines decorating some of their faces. Wally felt his heart clench when he realized that they were probably because of him. James bounded ahead of him into the room, crashing into Hartley and then just laying there, half on top of him as Hartley tried to push him off. Wally hovered in the doorway, hating how unsure and tentative he was feeling in his own home. He hadn't felt like this in a long, long time.

It didn't take long for someone to notice him. Cameron glanced over to the archway that served as a door and did a double take when he realized someone was standing there. He started coughing on his drink, trying to wheeze his way through his surprise. Wally smirked at him. As Cameron tried to stop coughing, some of the others followed his gaze to see Wally standing there. Still feeling awkward, Wally waved to them.

Digger rolled his eyes, "Get in here, ya gumby. What're you doing standing there?"

Wally blushed slightly, but still came further into the room, taking a seat on one of the unoccupied couches. The room lapsed into an awkward silence as Cameron finally got himself under control and no one else could figure out what to say.

Finally, Len broke the silence, sighing deeply and pinching the bridge of his nose, "How was your conversation with Dick?"

"It was good," Wally answered, "We talked about the Speed Force a little bit more and he told me what his concerns were. It's not – not _solved_, but it's as good as it's going to get as long as this Darkseid thing is hanging over our heads."

"Right," Len responded, "That's as good a place to start as any. What are your thoughts about Savage's plan?"

Wally winced a little, both at the reminder of the plan and at Len's blunt questioning technique, "I'm considering it. I want to look into other options, obviously, but as far as I can currently see, it looks like our best bet."

From across the room, Cameron threw his arms in the air, expression darkening to something that Wally wasn't sure he'd ever seen before. It was probably the angriest Wally had ever seen his brother. Len gave Cameron a warning glare before turning his attention back to Wally, "It looks like our best bet? Even when it means you'll die?"

"It's – it's not _dying_," Wally protested weakly.

Mark sighed, "Kid, would you be able to get out of the thing if you went back in it?"

"No," Wally admitted, voice small, "Probably not."

"Then it's the same thing as you dying, and we'll have to bury you again," Mark told him bluntly. There was a hard note in his voice. Wally took a moment to look around the room. All of them looked like that. They were angry and upset. And it was all Wally's fault.

Wally swallowed roughly and asked, "What else are we supposed to do? Let Darkseid win?"

"Ignore the problem!" Cameron burst out, "The _heroes_ always win stupid things like this, don't they? They'll figure something out! You can't tell me that they don't have MFDs in there somewhere. Stick one of the other speedsters in there and use them!"

"How can you say that?" Wally asked, aghast, "What if they don't come out?"

"Then send another one in," Cameron responded, voice hard.

Wally threw his own hands in the air, "What was it that Mark just said? If I can't come back out of the Speed Force, then that's me dying, yeah? You're asking the heroes to potentially _kill_ some of their own!"

"They're asking _us_ to kill one of _our_ own!" Cameron shouted back.

"And that's my decision!" Wally growled, "Taking away my part in this, the help that I could provide, that would be the same as me essentially _killing_ some speedster. Even if they only need one to go through the process the first time and then come back out to defeat Darkseid, they're going to 'die.' And I _know_ all the speedsters. I'm _friends_ with all the speedsters!"

"So what?" Cameron asked, hands clenched into fists. A ring of ice was slowly spreading on the ground around him. Mick, who had been sitting nearby, resolutely stood up and walked to the other side of the room. Cameron visibly tried to calm himself before he tried again, "Look, you're not _actually_ killing them. It would be their choice, the same way it would be your choice. Except they're actually heroes and they signed up for this. When they decided to be a hero, they decided that their job could possibly get them killed some day. It's an accord they came to with their families, as well. With us? We're _villains_, Wally. If there's any accord we came to, it was that we might be _arrested_ one day, not _killed_. We didn't sign up for this. You didn't sign up to die and we didn't sign up to watch you die – _twice_. And _don't_ try to argue that you 'didn't actually die' the first time. It doesn't matter that you weren't really dead. Because we _thought_ you were dead. We were _convinced_ that you were dead. There is a gravestone in the Rogue family plot with your name on it and an empty coffin buried underneath it. We had to – to carry that there and we had to watch you get buried and we had – had to go through that whole _stupid_ funeral with all those _people_ who _lost_ you. Did you know that Central City mourned your death as well? Did you know that they dedicated a wing of the Flash museum to just you? There's a memorial there that people pay their respects to. Did you know that we had to go through _all of that_ because _you were dead_?" Cameron was crying by the time he finished, tears that froze as quickly as they fell.

Wally felt his heart stutter in his chest. Cameron _hated_ crying. He said it was painful and made him feel weak. Wally clenched his hands into fists and tried to think of what to say. What _could_ he say? He wouldn't change his minds. He wasn't going to let Darkseid take over and hurt his family. He just wasn't.

Hartley took up the conversation next, "Wally, we know that you're trying to do the right thing and that you're… that you've always been a little more… _heroic_ than the rest of us, but -,"

Wally interrupted him, "Is that your problem? You're upset because you think that I'm doing this to – what? Better the world or something? I'm doing this so _you_ don't die! If Darkseid gets Halo and wins the battle, you all die. Or get mind-enslaved or whatever. You understand that, don't you? As far as I'm concerned, it's a question of whether _all of us_ die or _just me_. And I _won't_ let you die. This douchebag doesn't get to hurt my family."

"Was that your reasoning when you ran to Antarctica during the MFD fiasco?" Len asked mildly.

Wally scowled at them, "Of course it was. I mean, part of it was a little selfish, too. This is _my_ world. I _live_ here. Screw them for trying to destroy it. I like this planet." There was a range of dawning realization across each of the Rogues' faces. Had they all really thought otherwise? Wally felt a wave of hurt wash over him that he couldn't quite keep from his voice, "Is that what you thought of me? You thought that I – I died because I was trying to be a _hero_. Are you serious? How could you think that of me?"

Sam fidgeted in his seat, "I mean, it wasn't that much of a leap, was it? You're dating a hero. Your uncle is a hero. You're buddy-buddy with every heroic speedster out there. You even acted as a criminal informant for Red Arrow!"

"I'm dating Dick because I love _him_, not because he's a _hero_! If I had the choice, he wouldn't be, but I won't ask him to _change_ either, just like he won't ask me to change. My uncle _who I didn't get a choice in_ is a hero, yeah, but I consider you guys to be more of uncles than I consider him to be one. I'm closer to you guys. You know that. And of course I'm friends with the other speedsters! Do you know how weird it is to be a speedster? I had a lot of questions as a kid! And… and we've _talked_ about how lonely it is. Are you really begrudging me the chance to – just for a little bit – not feel so crushingly lonely? And yeah, I'm a CI for Red Arrow. So what? His wife kills people! If that's heroism, then I don't want a part of it. I keep the really bad guys off the streets, and I get new ideas for heists and stuff. Besides, he's retired now anyways. There will be no more CI work. Happy?" Wally growled. They thought he was trying to be a _hero_.

And, yeah, heroes weren't bad or whatever. Supervillains wouldn't really exist without them. The Rogues had a healthy respect for heroes. But that didn't mean that it wasn't still insulting to be _called_ one. Wally _wasn't_ a hero. He never _wanted_ to be a hero. He was perfectly happy causing mayhem and stealing stuff. If he ever did world-saving activities, then they were done with a selfish motive.

The fact that the Rogues didn't know that – _hadn't_ known that, apparently, at any point that they'd been together – stung. What had they thought of him the entire time he'd been with the Rogues? Had they always thought of him as a – a _hero_? Had they always believed that he was just using crime as a… a what? Adrenalin rush to keep his high between saving people? That was ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! Wally was a _supervillain_. Sure, for some people, that wasn't anything to be proud of. But it was here. And Wally was proud. He would always be proud. Being a supervillain was what he was born to be, and he'd love doing it until the day he died. Even _Dick_ knew that. It was why he didn't push Wally to change. To know that Dick understood that, but the Rogues didn't? That hurt. A lot.

Even though he knew it would hurt, Wally had to ask, "How long have you been thinking this kind of stuff?" The way the group fidgeted and wouldn't meet his eyes told him everything. Wally flung himself to his feet, ready to run, ready to leave and _screw_ them. Len grabbed his arm before he could take a step though, voice cold when he commanded, "Sit down, Wally."

Wally considered resisting. He would never hurt Len, but he was fast enough now that he could just phase right through Len's arm and leave. It wouldn't be hard. He'd be gone before anyone had even realized he was still trying to leave.

Instead, though, Wally took in a shuddering breath and sat back down. He didn't look at the other Rogues, though. They'd hurt him with their assumptions and their words. He didn't think they'd ever really hurt him like this before. He _wasn't_ a superhero. He didn't _want_ to be a superhero. He just wanted his family to be safe.

Len spoke into the silence that had fallen over the room, "Clearly, there have been some misunderstandings. Wally, you need to understand something about what Cameron said. As far as he's been concerned, you working with the heroes is what caused you to die. Now it's about to do the exact same thing. And before you get snippy with me, _listen_ to my words. He thought that _working with the heroes_ is why you died. Nothing else. That's why your relationship with various heroes makes him nervous. Now, you also need to understand something about what the rest of us said. We do not begrudge you feeling any sort of way. The fact of the matter is, you have a lot of connections with heroes. More than any of us do. It wouldn't be… _odd_ for you to want to _help_ people."

"I'm a villain," Wally said flatly. There was an angry, dead quality in his voice that he hadn't heard since he was a kid. The other Rogues flinched away from the noise.

"We know that," Mark soothed, "But it wouldn't have seemed, ah, strange for you to _want_ to be something else. Even if you weren't!"

"I'm a _villain_," Wally repeated, hating the sound of tears clogging his throat, "I don't _want_ to be anything else. I want to be a supervillain. With my _family_. I have _never_ wanted anything else."

To his side, Len closed his eyes, looking like the weight of the world was pushing him into the recliner. The rest of the Rogues didn't look much better, expressions even more drawn than they had been when Wally had come in.

Was Wally really that bad of a supervillain? Had he really done so many things incorrectly that they could think this of him? He'd always believed that he was doing okay, that he was at least adequate in his job as a supervillain, if not good. Was that wrong? Had he just been pulling them back this whole time? The Rogues had a reputation in the criminal underworld of being soft and so grey they were almost good. The villains in Central City knew otherwise, of course. The supervillains who had tried to take over from the Rogues, believing they were too heroic to do anything, learned the lesson the hard way. The Rogues _were_ supervillains and they weren't afraid to show it. But had Wally been dragging their name down this entire time? Had his actions, his _missteps_ as a supervillain been the reason that the Rogues had to fight so hard for the villainous status?

Maybe, for the sake of the team, for their reputation and their ability to work with other groups, maybe it would be better if he died fighting Darkseid.

He hadn't realized that he'd said that out loud until Hartley was in his face, crying and clutching his shirt, "Don't you dare say that! Never say that! We would never _ever_ be better off if you were dead! You're so – so…" Hartley trailed off. After a second, he pulled his hands away from Wally's shirt and dragged him into a hug instead, crushing him into Hartley's chest. Hartley cried into Wally's hair and, after a second, Wally started crying into Hartley's shirt.

He didn't know how long they sat there like that. At some point, the rest of the Rogues joined in, either throwing themselves onto the hug like James and Cameron or just adding a comforting hand to the pile like Sam or Mark.

When they all finally pulled away, Len stared at Wally seriously, "I promise you are not going to die, Wally."

Wally frowned, echoing Dick's words, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Len didn't stop his intense stare. After a moment, he repeated the words he said years and years and years ago, on the second day Wally had lived with the Rogues. He said it with the same level of sincerity and weight as he'd said it then (and he'd been telling the truth back then), "I don't make promises lightly, kid."

Wally took in a shuddering breath. This difference between this time and last time was that, this time, Wally believed him. So, instead of just nodding dully, Wally looked Len in the eyes and said, "Okay. I won't die, then."

"Good," Len said, one of his gentler smiles making an appearance.

Digger coughed to get Wally's attention and then, quietly, apologized, "Look, kiddo, I'm sorry we thought that about you. And I'm sorry that our words and thoughts have hurt you so much. It was never meant to hurt you." Wally nodded to him, unable to speak through the tears clogging his throat again.

One by one, the rest of the Rogues echoed Digger's statement, earnest and serious and so determined to make sure that Wally knew that they _never_ wanted to hurt him. It didn't take away all the hurt he was feeling, but it helped. A lot. And, well, this was his family. Wally was pretty sure that he'd forgive them for anything, eventually.

When the apologies stopped, James spoke up, "There's something else I want to apologize for." Everyone glanced over at him curiously, but Wally felt his cheeks heat up. He was pretty sure he knew what this was about. And sure enough, James said, "Wally ran after confronting that evil scientist because he thought we were scared of him. I want to apologize for making you feel that way, Wally. You're a supervillain, but you're _our_ supervillain and I know you'd never hurt us."

"We weren't scared," Sam assured him instantly, "I promise you that we weren't. Wally, it was worrying more than anything. You don't get that worked up _ever_. But you got so _mad_ at her. I'm not sure I really understand why you got _that_ mad, but it was concerning."

Wally swallowed and then admitted, "There – there are two reasons I got so upset. The lesser one was, well, Tara is my sister now. She kept me sane in there and even though she was so scared of Deathstroke, she'd speak up sometimes to try to get me better conditions. But I… I was fairly useless. There really wasn't much I could do. I could make her happy, though. I could redirect Slade's anger. I could make sure that Tara got out of that situation and ended up _free_. Then _Dr. Jace_ came around and was making Tara unhappy again and I was just – sick of people doing that to her. But… more than anything, the reason I got so upset is because… Dr. Jace assumed that experimenting on these _children_ and hurting them and ruining their lives made them her _children_. And that was just so uncomfortably close to _Luthor's_ obsession with me that I just felt sick, down to my core. And Luthor had just killed Ben and broke into the Watchtower to get me back and sometimes I feel like I'll never be free of him and I just spent so much time under his thumb again and I just – I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't handle the thought of another person thinking like Luthor did. I couldn't."

There was heartbreak written across their faces. It made Wally shift uncomfortably. He knew that he'd had an arguably tragic life, but so had most of them. They didn't need to look at him like he was two seconds away from breaking, like he was – Wally took a deep breath to calm down. He was getting worked up and lashing out, even if it was only in his mind. His latest stint with the Light had messed him up, more than he wanted to admit. The worst part was that he wasn't really doing much healing, either. There were so many things happening and so much to catch up on after two years that he'd hardly had a moment to just exist and come to terms with everything that had happened to him. The lack of rest was making him short-tempered and surly.

Mick closed his eyes, pain written across his brow, "Never again, kid. Luthor's out and they've got enough dirt on him to bury him for eternity. You're not his kid. You're _ours_."

Wally gave Mick a wan smile, "Okay."

Sam squeezed Wally's knee reassuringly, "You really are our kid, Wally. We'll never be afraid of you, okay? I promise."

Wally's lips wobbled and, before he could stop himself, he whispered, "Even though I killed someone?"

Sam breathed in quickly through his nose. He didn't answer, instead just pulling Wally into a hug. It was Len who eventually spoke, voice gentler than normal, "Most of us have killed someone, Wally. And for a whole lot less noble reasons than you did. Dick showed us the video and Tara talked to us about it. We know that you were just trying to protect her. And even if you weren't, it would still be okay. Now, don't do it again unless you have to, but that one? It's okay. We won't judge you for it or look down on you or anything of the sort. You did what you had to do, and we are _proud_."

Wally had thought he was out of tears, but it turned out that he really, really wasn't.


	32. Chapter 32

WWWWWW

Wally fidgeted anxiously. It had been two weeks since Savage had burst into the Hub with his prisoner (they had _barely_ managed to stop Jade from taking her pound of flesh from Savage in retribution; the only reason they managed it was promising to put her in charge of chasing him down after Darkseid was defeated) and Halo was well hidden and protected. Any hero that wasn't going to be used in the upcoming fight was put on protective detail. She was moved constantly, only a few people knowing where she was at any point in time.

It had been hard watching the others say goodbye to her. It was clear that she wanted more than anything to be a part of that fight, but they couldn't risk Darkseid getting his hands on her in the confusion. It was also clear that some of the Outsiders and Team wanted more than anything to be the ones protecting Halo, too. Garfield, Bruce, and Dick had talked about it, about sending some of the kids with Halo to protect each other, but they thought it was too big of a risk. So, Brion had been forced to say goodbye to Halo, kissing her gently on the forehead and drawing her into a tight hug. Halo hugged him back just as strongly, fingernails digging into his back. It had surprised everyone when Halo had come up to Wally next, tears in her eyes but expression fierce, "Please do not die, Momentum. There are a great many who would miss you. I do not want you to die for me and I do not want them to be hurt anymore."

"I'll try," Wally had said because he was trying really hard to not make promises he couldn't keep. Dick's fingers had dug into his hand at the comment.

Halo had just considered him for a long moment before she nodded and said, "Thank you." Then she had walked on to say goodbye to the others, accepting tearful hug after tearful hug. Idly, Wally had wished he'd been able to do something like this before he went into the Speed Force. He had wondered if doing that would have gotten him out faster. Probably not. It was probably just wishful thinking.

In the present, though, there was a non-stop bustle of activity that Wally wasn't included in. He was going crazy, sat in a corner of the Watchtower and told to sit still. He knew it made a lot of heroes anxious to see him in their central headquarters, but it wasn't his fault. They were the ones who needed him for this stupid plan.

(And it wasn't like Wally wasn't just as anxious. He didn't like to be surrounded by heroes with no means of escape. Plus, there was the constant itch in the back of his mind that reminded him that Luthor was in a cell somewhere in the bowls of the Watchtower, that reminded him that the man who'd tormented him since he was a little kid was in the same building as him).

Then again, he wasn't making anyone nearly as nervous as Savage, who was, admittedly, still on the War Planet, but was video calling them, his face covering a large screen.

Still, it was annoying to be told that he couldn't help with most of the preparations. Sure, he was a supervillain, but he'd already agreed to the plan and the Rogues had helped rework it into something that looked like it had a reasonably high chance of working. He'd even agreed to the plan knowing that there was a high chance he was going to die.

They hadn't managed to figure anything out. All the superheroes, everyone in the Rogue's connections, all the scientists King Gregor could put on it, and every part of the Light that Savage controlled worked together to try to figure out another way to defeat Darkseid. Sorry, they tried to work out another way to defeat Darkseid that had a one hundred percent chance of defeating him and neutralizing him indefinitely. Without killing him. There were other things that had a tiny percentage of working, but most of them relied on luck and guesses at his power scale. Even though Savage had worked with him for centuries, he still didn't know for sure _how_ powerful Darkseid was. Therefore, the plan to drag him into the Speed Force was still in effect.

Barry had tried to argue otherwise. He'd tried to say that he was the adultier-adult and that he was Wally's Uncle and that he would do it, but Savage had told him that Darkseid was closing in on Halo, despite their safety measures. There wasn't enough time to do to Barry what had been done to Wally. Nor was there any guarantee that it would even work with Barry.

Trying to stave off the bleak thoughts in his mind, Wally called out to his current guard, "C'mon, can't I do something? I'm _bored_."

"Wally," Will said through gritted teeth, "If you don't stop saying that, I'm going to _hurt_ you."

"That's not very heroic," Wally pouted. He waited a moment before sighing and letting his voice turn more serious, "Will, let me help. I'm going crazy over here. I can't just – just sit around knowing what's going to happen. I need to do something to keep my mind off of everything."

"This is why we should have just left you with the Rogues," Will sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. The reason they hadn't left Wally with the Rogues was partially because some heroes were worried that the Rogues would spirit Wally off into the night and leave them high and dry and partially because he would be mobilizing with this group and not the group that the Rogues would be with. Wally didn't like splitting up. He didn't like being separated from the others during something so important, but he understood the importance of it. It just reminded him a little bit too much of the MFD incident. Eventually, Will sighed again and stalked off, "Let me see what I can do."

Wally nodded absently at his retreating form. He wanted to see the Rogues. He wanted to talk to Dick. He wanted to say goodbye even if they would probably kill him just for trying. He'd attempted it a few times. Dick had given him a steely glare that made the words die in his throat and Len had just kept repeating that he didn't make promises lightly. Which, sure, was all well and good in the build-up, but now? It was the big day. It was the big day and there wasn't any plan. No surprise revelation, no trump card, nothing. Wally was going to run and run and run and drag Darkseid into the Speed Force and then he was going to be _stuck_ there. Maybe until he could convince himself to get out again. Maybe until it was too late. Maybe just for eternity.

Like a blessing, Dick showed up right at that very moment, a clearly irritated Will following along behind him (Will hadn't been pleased when they'd asked him to join the force; he'd wanted to stay home with his daughter, wanted Jade to even stay home. Instead, Lian was with Jade's mother and Will and Jade were on different strike forces). Dick crouched in front of the seat Wally had been pushed into, "What's wrong?"

"I'm _bored_," Wally complained.

Dick shot an irritated glare over his shoulder, "Sorry, Momentum, but I can't help with that. Red Arrow had told me that this was an _emergency_ and that you _needed something_. But clearly he lied about that. So, I've got to get back to the prep."

"Take me with you," Wally begged, "Please. I'm useless sitting here. You know that I'm a good strategist. You know that I'll do what I need to do. C'_mon_. I can help."

Dick sighed, "I know you can help – that's not the problem. The problem is that _they_ don't trust you to help. I know you want to, and I really appreciate that, but this is going to be a hard battle for everyone. They don't need to get keyed up because of a supervillain right now, okay?"

Will must have seen the dangerous look brewing on Wally's face because he quickly interjected with a smirk, "Besides, won't all that pent-up energy help on the field? The more antsy you are, the faster you'll run, yeah?"

Wally's stomach flipped at the words. It was one thing to say them in the safety of his own mind where things hadn't really quite felt real since he went into the Speed Force the first time. It was another one to say them out loud where everyone could hear them and make them _real_. Wally scowled, "Yes, _thank you_, Red Arrow. I really appreciate this reminder of my impending doom. Stellar job."

Realizing that Wally was spoiling for a fight at that point, Will raised his hands and stepped back. He did send Wally an apologetic look over his shoulder, though. Wally was getting a lot of those, even from the superheroes. It made him felt fragile and vulnerable and weak and he _hated it_.

Dick rubbed his arms up and down Wally's arms, ignoring the scowls from some of the newer heroes. Wally scowled back at them. He felt a tinge of pleasure when most of them turned away hurriedly. Dick looked over his shoulder at the retreating superheroes. His eyebrow was raised when he looked back, "Really man?" Wally shrugged, but didn't say anything. He felt mute with the knowledge of his likely death. Will's comment had really brought that up to the forefront of his mind and it was all he could think about. Maybe he didn't want Dick to give him something to do after all. Wally wasn't sure he would be much use. Dick sighed, pressing their foreheads together and intertwining their hands, "Hey, Momentum, look at me? We're all going to get out of this. All of us. And I know you're too keyed up to believe that or really listen to that right now, so I'm going to ask you to do something, okay? I promise I'm not just pawning you off on some dumb thing, okay? I think this will really help both of you. Can you go down into the room with the kids and help make sure that they're all kitted up correctly? You know the plan as well as anyone else in this room, so just go over it with them and make sure it's alright. Can you do that?"

"For you?" Wally teased, "Anything." He felt a little calmer after being given something to do. And it was something that wouldn't actually require much thought. It wasn't a throw-away job, though. The kids needed to be reassured and comforted before such a monumental task. It was odd to send a supervillain to go do it, but that was alright. Superheroes had always been a little odd anyways.

Wally stole a kiss from Dick, ignoring his scandalized whisper, "No kissing in the suits!" He winked at the people who'd scowled at him earlier, relishing in the way their faces darkened – with rage or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. Then, he moved into the antechamber that held the three child teams, all their adult members or off-shoots away in the main planning room.

Only two of them looked up when they came in. Conveniently, they were Wally's two favorites. He bee-lined over to them, absently taking Tara under his arm and fist-bumping Bart, "How are you two doing?"

"This is going to be totally crash! There wasn't _anything_ like this in the original timeline. I don't think I had even _heard_ of Darkseid and it'd been a long time. I wonder what he was doing," Bart cheered. Wally rolled his eyes.

Tara said quietly, "This is the biggest mission I've ever gone on."

"It's the biggest mission pretty much any of these heroes have gone on," Wally commented. He was aware of some of the other mini-heroes quieting to listen to him, so he made sure to speak a little louder to accommodate them, "I know there are still some good heroes – some _strong_ heroes that are too far off-world to come back in time for this fight, especially if we don't want to tip Darkseid off. I know that makes a lot of the older heroes nervous because they don't like the idea of fighting something like this without Superman or Wonder Woman – the big hitters – around. But you don't need them. and you don't need to have been through something this big before. Something's always got to be the first, yeah? This is your first big battle. So what? You've got an enormous pool of superheroes working with you! And the best supervillain team out there, I might add. Get out there, do your stuff, and show them all what you can do. The Team once fought off the Reach and helped organize the destruction of the MFDs. You guys - and the Outsiders and the Infinity, Inc. kids – are going to do great."

"Thanks, Wally," Tara whispered.

Wally grinned down at her before mock-frowning, "What did you just call me? We are on a mission, kiddo. Codenames only!" She just rolled her eyes.

"Um, Momentum?" a voice called from the other part of the room.

Wally searched out the voice. He found a teenager wearing one of the Infinity, Inc. suits. He searched his memory to remember which one this was and eventually asked, "Yes, Trajectory?"

She glanced up at him but seemed to have lost her voice. The leader, Starlight, picked up the conversation, "Can we talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure," Wally shrugged, even as a part of him felt squeamish at the idea of talking to these people. Their powers were built on years of his suffering. He shoved the feeling down and forced himself to say, "We've got to stay in the room, though. Not sure what they think I'll do if I have free access of the place, but whatever. Not the first time I've been here. I've never cause too much damage before."

They blinked at him, but still hesitantly led him to the other side of the room, so they were slightly separated from the rest. Wally felt a little hollow letting go of Tara and tried to attribute it to the idea that he was leaving himself alone in a superhero hideout and not the rise of another mental issue he'd have to deal with if he survived this whole mess.

Once they got there, the three of them shuffled slightly, clearly unsure of what they wanted to say. Wally wanted to help them get to their point – this was awkward for everyone involved – but he honestly had no idea what they wanted to say to him. Finally, Trajectory blurted, "I'm sorry."

"Excuse me?" Wally asked, "For what?"

Trajectory swallowed before speaking more slowly and quietly, "I'm sorry that L-Luthor did what… what he did to you. That was wrong. I'm sorry that I didn't know about that – didn't even _think_ to question that before I took on these powers. I… I'm a speedster, too. Not like you guys, I don't think. All that stuff about the Speed Force and stuff that they were talking about in the briefing? That's not me, but… I'm still _fast_ and I can't help but feel like I gained this extraordinary power specifically through harm to you and I'm _sorry_ for that."

Wally's shoulders slumped as he realized what this was about. His voice was tired and maybe a little flat and dull when he responded, "Look, Trajectory? You had nothing to do with that. It was Luthor's decision. He's… he's in jail now. And I heard you guys were the ones to find the stuff that'll put him away for good this time. You never owed me a single thing because you _didn't_ know and there was no way for you _to_ know, but if you feel like you needed to give me something in return, then I consider finding Luthor's stash repayment enough, okay?"

Starlight was looking at him with the unbridled relief of someone who didn't feel the same guilt but was glad to be absolved of it and ecstatic to see her friends be absolved of it. Nuklon's shoulders dropped in relief. It was Trajectory, though, whose eyes filled with tears even as she threw herself forward and into his arms.

Wally steadied himself instinctually even if part of him still cringed away from the touch of strangers. Awkwardly, he patted the top of her head. He blushed slightly when he heard Starlight giggle. The next thing he knew, the other two had piled on top of him.

He glanced around himself the second he felt like he could without toppling the three of them. He made eye contact with Cyborg who was the only one looking that way. Despite not knowing the teen very well, he still mouthed, "Help me!" at him. Cyborg's eyebrows rose in surprise. Was it because Wally was talking to him when he normally didn't? Was it at the ridiculous of the situation? Was it at the idea of a supervillain asking a superhero for help? Cyborg snorted and looked away.

Wally sighed, resigning himself to having three teenagers stuck to him. Was this what Dick had wanted him to do? Wally was pretty sure he had achieved nothing.

Then Brion walked over, bringing what seemed like all the other kids with him. Wally wanted to sigh at the aggressive look on Brion's face. Did he know how to do anything without being aggressive? Brion frowned at Wally, "Are you really going to die during this mission?"

"Wow," Garfield said loudly, "No chill at all. Jeez, Brion!"

"Codenames," Wally reminded them absently, still off-center from the children just now detangling from him and from the red-hot, no-nonsense way Brion had asked his question.

Brion ignored Garfield, still staring at Wally, "Well, are you?"

Wally frowned, "Well, I'd like to _not_ die, personally, so that's the goal. I'm… I just have to resist the pull of the Speed Force. I have to go _fast_ but not _too_ fast. If I do that perfectly right and I ignore the Speed Force, then… I should live. I'm going to try to live."

"That's not good enough," Brion scowled.

Wally scowled back, "Screw you. I'd like to see you try. I'd especially like to see you try while dealing with a year and a half of torture on top of it!"

A muscle in Brion's jaw jumped at the way Tara wilted at Wally's words, but he refused to be derailed, "No, that is not good enough. You say that Terra is your little sister now. She is my little sister, too. If you hurt her by dying, I will be very angry with you. But also… if she is your sister and she is _my_ sister, then you are my brother. For that reason, I will not let you die. I won't lose a sibling again."

Wally felt his heart stutter in his chest again. Jeez, these kids. They were determined to kill him before he even went out to the fight. For a moment, Wally couldn't figure out how to react. Then, he sighed, stepped forward enough to drag Brion into a hug, and said, "You all might as well join in. Bonding or whatever. Yay."

That was how Dick found them minutes later, all of them clumped together and hugging with Wally looking resigned in the middle of the mess. Casually (but quickly), Dick pulled out his camera and took a picture. Wally hadn't even realized Dick had taken it out before the click of the shutter echoed in the silence of the room. Wally scowled, "Why you!" He phased through the kids, ignoring their exclamations of surprise. He raced through the room and swung Dick up, plucking the camera out of his hands as he pulled Dick to lay over his shoulder.

Lightning fast, Dick moved one leg to the other side of Wally's neck and _heaved_ with his hips, throwing them both backwards. Dick landed on his hands and pulled Wally the rest of the way down. Dick's feet touched the floor right as his hands pushed off, leaving him standing over Wally's fallen form. Wally grinned down at him and showed the blanked 'deleted' sign on the camera, "I win."

Dick smirked, "I think, if you talked to Oracle and found out that everything I take a picture of is immediately downloaded to a cloud that she cleverly designed, I think you'll find that _I_ win."

Wally gaped at him for a moment. Then he snorted and shot a sly look at him, "That's so hot, babe."

On the other side of the room, Jaime made a gagging sound, "PDA! PDA! I feel assaulted!"

Wally groaned, "I literally did nothing. Please stop shouting. My _ears_ feel assaulted."

"Nightwing? How hard is it to collect some kids?" Artemis sighed as she walked into the room, followed by the rest of the original Team. They smiled at each other, small, almost-tired, proud smiles. It wasn't the same kind of smile that the Rogues gave each other when they finished a mission. It was something with more gravitas than that. It was the kind of smile you gave someone when you were off to war, when you'd been off to war before and had lost friends there but saved people. For a moment, Wally wondered what it would be like, to feel that, to care so much about _everybody_ that they kept fighting, kept doing things like this to themselves. Sure, Wally did it a couple times, but that was for his family. That was for the small few that he cared for with all his heart. He didn't care about the strangers like they did.

Shaking his head, Wally pushed a breath through his nose and stood up in one fluid movement, "Yeah, Nightwing. Way to slow down the party. Let's go, let's go, let's go! You're all too slow!"

"Who are you calling slow?" Bart yelped, racing forwards. Wally laughed and ran with him for a fraction of a second before pulling ahead.

They pulled to a stop at just barely different times, Wally skidding just the slightest bit further the slightest bit sooner. He stuck his tongue out at Bart. From the front of the room, Batman cleared his throat and gave them both a Bat Glare, "This is serious."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Wally threw back. Over the years, it had become something of a game between him and Bruce. Whenever Bruce was in the Bat suit and they were in front of others, Wally would see how far he could push Bruce before the man got seriously ticked with him. This was the first time they'd done it since Wally had come back, though, and Wally saw the way the nostalgia softened Bruce's edges. Perfect. Wally would be able to push even further like this.

Barry muffled his laughter when Bruce glared at him, too, "Momentum, come on."

"What? I get yelled at but Kid Flash doesn't? Rude. That seems like prejudice to me. Are you prejudiced against supervillains? I'm offended. I demand an apology," Wally threw out. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

Wyynde came up from behind Wally, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing, voice deadly calm, "If you do not be quiet and _pay attention_, I will _hurt you_." From Wally's other side, Kaldur gave him a deeply concerned look. Some of the other heroes were also looking at Wyynde that way. Wally started to wonder if him and Jason had unearthed a secret vengeful version of Wyynde that none of the others had seen before.

Still, his words succeeded, and Wally felt himself calm down, settled by the way that Wyynde's hand gentled on his shoulder until it was a friendly, comforting squeeze. Wally used that to steady him as panic rose again at the thought of what he was about to do.

From the front of the room, Batman stared at them all impassively, "Savage has managed to lure Darkseid to Earth. In moments, the first strike team will disable Darkseid's ship while the second strike team disable's his army and we disable Darkseid. It is an _absolute_ priority that Momentum does not get injured or captured or distracted along his path. He needs to be able to concentrate without worrying about us or Darkseid. If he loses concentration, then we lose our trump card. Remember, too, that there are those of us that Momentum does care about. If he sees any of _us_ getting hurt, it could distract him, too. Keep yourselves and keep him safe. Understood?" The gathered heroes shouted an affirmation back at him, expressions levelling out as the fear and nerves that had been shaking over them settled with Batman's words. Wally wondered why Batman had stepped down from leader of the League. Or… co-leader with Superman? Wally was never sure how that worked. Either way, it was clear that Batman was just as adept at leading them as he always was. Then again, Wally had heard about the whole fiasco with the Outsiders and Batman's secret little club. Maybe that was why he'd stepped down. Before he quit, of course.

With a wave of Batman's hand, they all flooded through the zeta beams. They'd been placed en masse in a desolate location somewhere in Africa where Savage lured Darkseid. With one mighty cry, the heroes gathered in the 'attack-Darkseid-team' joined the fray.

It was chaos. Wally only had the tiniest fraction of a second to take it in, but it was pure chaos. He couldn't find his family. Within moments, he lost sight of Dick and Artemis and Conner and M'gann and Zatanna and Tara and Brion and Bart and Garfield and Barry and then there was just a see of bodies and blood and Wally's heart hurt staring at it. So, he turned and ran.

The plan was simple: Wally just had to run around the Earth over and over again until he accessed the Speed Force. Then, he needed to drag Darkseid into it. Simple, plain, easy. The reality? Not that clean cut.

Wally had never pushed himself that hard before in his running. He didn't know how fast he was going. He wasn't sure if there was even a way to accurately measure how fast it was. He felt like his feet didn't touch the ground even as he would repeat the loop and see the destruction in the forests and desolate landscapes.

He saw the battle in a series of gritty tableaus.

It was Tara and Brion he saw first. They were near the rest of the Outsiders, but he clearly split off. They looked like they were made to fight together. Brion's lava and Tara's earth molded into a flawless blend of offense and defense. They looked so powerful, lifted into the sky like Mark, standing above them all on the battlefield. They were cloaked in a halo of glowing red light from the lava, giving them an extra air of glory. Wally's chest ached at the sight. Those two would make _such_ good royalty. Wally had interacted with King Gregor a little and liked him well enough, but the three of them together, a family reunited at last, would be a force to be reckoned with. Wally had a feeling that the world had been underestimating Markovia for a long time and didn't have a _clue_ what was coming next.

Wally ran. Made another circuit. Saw the battle again.

The next scene made his chest ache in a different way. Dick, Kaldur, Artemis, Conner, and M'gann were packed closely together. All of them had different mentors and mentees and had been parts of different team-ups over the years. Wally knew that. But… seeing that, seeing them in that moment, it was like they were kids again. It was like _Wally_ was a kid again and the scariest thing in the world was the thought that maybe the Rogues did love him. They fought so well together, even after all those years, after all the separation and drama and life experiences. Dick was in the air, body coiled in a tight kick, one leg out straight as the rest of his body prepared for a quick flip once he landed the blow. Kaldur was underneath him, glowing blue water bearers held carefully away from Dick as Kaldur ducked under a blow, one water bearer already slicing towards the enemy that had attacked him. M'gann was floating next to Dick, expression almost serene in its ferocity. It was different seeing here there with white skin instead of the green that Wally had known for so long. He wished he'd been there to see her getting comfortable with her birth color, with herself. He wished he'd been there for a lot of things. Conner and Artemis were working directly together. Conner had just picked Artemis up in one arm, the limb clamped around her waist as he spun. There was an arrow in her hand, one notched on the string, and another in the air, perfectly comfortable being swung around by Conner. Their synchronicity, their understanding of each other's habits and style and thoughts, was beautiful to behold.

Wally ran. Made another circuit. Saw the battle again.

Wyynde and Jason were fighting fairly close to the members of the original Team. It made sense. Wyynde clearly loved Kaldur with everything he had, and Jason hadn't connected to enough of the newer Bat fam to feel as close to them as he did to Dick. It also made sense because Ra's al Ghul hadn't just forced individual training on them. There had certainly been a lot of that; Ra's al Ghul believed that Wally was hopeless at all fighting and that Wyynde needed to get off his high horse and learn 'human fighting.' But there was team fighting, too. They'd go all at once or split into pairs. Wally knew how to fight with either of them or both of them almost as well as he knew how to fight with Jade or Aunt Lisa. They were both frowning at their enemies, each with a weapon impaled in someone. They were stood in the same stance, something almost reminiscent of a fencing stance, legs apart, one arm up, the other thrusting forward.

Wally ran. Made another circuit. Saw the battle again.

Barry and Bart and even Grandpa Jay were next. Wally thought idly that Grandma Joan had to be furious that Jay had gone out on this battle. She likely thought that there were already enough heroes, that Jay had retired, that he wasn't needed this specific time. Jay had likely convinced her by saying that it was to protect Wally. That made Wally sad, for some reason. Achingly, unbearably, sad. He thought to himself that maybe he should be thinking happier thoughts as he ran. Maybe, if he thought of only happy things, it would be easier to stay. Maybe he didn't have to die. Barry and Bart turned to him just ever so slightly when he ran past. Jay wasn't quite fast enough to catch Wally at the speed he was going, but the others were. Barely. It went to Wally's head, for a moment. He was the fastest. It was a guaranteed fact at that point. He was faster than all of them. Being in the Speed Force had saturated him in so much raw power and had unlocked so many thoughts and ideas and _feelings_ about his abilities that he'd managed to push past that hurdle he hadn't been able to jump over his entire life. He was the fastest now. So, why did it feel like a hollow victory?

Wally ran. Made another circuit. Saw the battle again.

On this pass, he saw his family. They were fighting together as they sometimes did, as they trained to do. His heart broke at the thought that he was racing on this lonely, lonely path, running so fast that even Barry and Bart were nearly stock still, when his family was gathered together in a tight circle, weapons facing the enemies that surrounded them. Being a speedster always had the potential to be dangerously, horribly lonely. There was a jet of ice still barely attached to Cameron's fingertips, his expression twisted into a snarl. James was aiming at the same opponent, nose gun just starting to eject the acid. He was standing four feet in the air, looking like he had every right to be there. Hartley had his flute to his lips, chest puffed out as far as it would go as he tried to get the volume needed to make an impact in such a loud, messy battle. Mark was standing above them all, a cloud under his feet and lightning in his hands. He looked like a king or an ancient warrior, suspended above them all and commanding the very weather. Digger was dispassionately observing the effects of one of his bomberrangs even as he grabbed a wickedly sharp boomerang in one hand. The real Sam was standing in the circle, fist lodged in an enemy's face. There was a plethora of Sam's spread across the field, fighting and shattering and reforming and fighting again. Mick and Len were on opposite sides of the circle, one coating the world in fire and the other coating it in ice. Wally wondered, sometimes, if this was how they used to operate; not a circle, but a two-man team, back to back, turning and twisting when needed.

Wally ran. Made another circuit. Felt something in the air _change_.

It was time.

The rest of the battle, Wally somehow hadn't really noticed Darkseid. Looked like Batman's preppy speech had actually worked. The different teams had kept him from being distracted completely. He'd been in his own head, running his own path, alone on this road that ended in death. The thought was so lonely, but it was positive, too. He never wanted someone else to have to run this road, no matter how freeing it also felt. But the road was over. He had reached his destination. Even now, he could feel the Speed Force pulling at him, excitedly calling out to him. He felt like he'd been gone for years and was stepping off a plane into the waiting arms of his family. He tried to not lose himself to that addictive feeling. He _tried_.

Wally turned to Darkseid. Even that monstrous creature had frozen, so slow he wasn't even moving. Wally considered him for a moment. Sometimes, people forgot how powerful speedsters were. Wally was running so fast that he could rob half the museums in the world before anyone even moved a _centimeter_. It was a heady feeling. Here was this monster that had conquered _solar systems_. And it was little Wally West who was going to take him down. Suddenly, abruptly, Wally felt a jet of bitterness shoot through him alongside the thought, _Look at me now, Dad. Not so useless after all, huh?_

He shook the thought from his head and focused back on the task at hand. The pull of the Speed Force was getting stronger. His head was starting to feel muzzy from the whispered words and the soul-deep longing. Was this what addiction felt like? He certainly felt like he was drugged. Clumsily, Wally moved forward. Darkseid was huge, towering over him. Wally almost tripped, but he managed to get his arms wrapped around one of Darkseid's legs. Was he doing this right? The one thing that none of them had considered was that there wasn't a manual for this. Wally hadn't been told how to _bring_ someone into the Speed Force with him.

It didn't really feel necessary in the moment, though. The Speed Force pulsed around him. It seemed pleased that he was going to bring it extra force. Was that what it thought this was? Did the Speed Force actually care about the universe? Wally could tell that it wasn't just hungry, that it didn't just consider Darkseid to be an oversized snack. The Speed Force was smug at the thought of consuming something so powerful. More than that, though, it was proud of Wally for taking down the giant, for battling the titan and winning. More than even _that_, was the feeling that had drawn Wally so strongly to the Speed Force in the first place. The Speed Force felt like a loving, caring mother. The familial vibes it gave off were strong and uncomplicated. It felt like a mother who was just happy to have this energy to give to more of its children.

With a smile, Wally reached back out to the Speed Force. He wasn't thinking about the others. He wasn't thinking about his family. He wasn't even thinking about Dick. All he could think was that he was proud, too. He was happy to contribute to this family, happy to come home. Wally tightened his grip around Darkseid and fell backwards into the comforting, loving warmth of the Speed Force.


	33. Chapter 33

LLLLLL

Len _felt_ the hush go across the field more than heard it. He still had the special ear plug/comms device that James had worked so hard to produce in his ears so he wouldn't be affected by Hartley's playing. But he felt the quiet settle over the battlefield and couldn't help the part of his heart that told him it sounded silent as the grave.

As his final enemy fell, the other members of Darkseid's army cringing backwards, looking for an escape, Len turned slowly. He didn't know what he was looking for. He didn't know that he wanted to see what he was going to see. Heart in his throat, fingers clammy where they clutched at his gun, Len turned his head just far enough to see where Darkseid had been standing less than a second before. Darkseid was gone. More importantly, though, there was no sign of Wally. The lightning blur that formed one complete line across the field (across the world) was gone, only the lingering static fading in the quiet of the battlefield.

Len took a step forward, toward the spot where Darkseid had stood. He dug the ear plugs out of his ears as if that would make any difference, as if that would change what he was seeing. Distantly, he could hear some of the heroes rounding up the last of Darkseid's minions. Distantly, he could hear the cheers start up as the superheroes realized that Darkseid was gone and his army was surrendering.

The Rogues weren't cheering, though. How could they? How could they cheer when all they could see were the faded sparks that were all that was left of one of their own? How could they cheer when Wally had died_ again_ for a world that could never love him as much as they did. Sometimes, sometimes Len thought that he would find one of those alien speakeasies. He thought that he'd go down there, chat an alien up, find someone to take him and his family to a new planet, one that didn't attract so many world-ending disasters. There were plenty of places that were safe for humans out there. There were plenty of new things to steal. And wouldn't it be fun to figure out how to dismantle their security systems? But he could never bring himself to suggest it, to even try. Earth was their home. It was _his_ home. Central City was _their _city. He would never leave it. But sometimes, sometimes, _this_ time, he hated himself for not taking that chance.

Behind him, he heard Mark drop to his knees. He knew part of it was exhaustion from using his powers, but a much larger part of it was grief. Len could understand. He felt that grief, too. Wally was gone. After two years of thinking he was dead, after only a few months of knowing he was alive, he was gone. Len wished he'd told Wally more often how much he loved him, how glad he was that he'd adopted the kid. He wished he'd made Wally stay with the Rogues for longer. He wished he'd found Wally sooner. He wished, he wished, he wished, but it wouldn't change a thing because Wally was gone _again_ and there was no getting him back this time.

Len only looked away from the spot when someone skidded to a stop next to him. His heart broke when he saw that it was Dick standing there, out of breath, the whites of his mask as wide as they would go. Len disagreed with Dick a lot. He was especially bitter about the lies and omissions Dick handed out during the recent fiascos. But he would always understand and respect how much Dick loved Wally. He would never begrudge him his grief.

Dick stumbled a few steps closer to the spot where Darkseid had been, arm reaching out as if there was something to grab other than the horrible nothingness in front of them. The rest of the original Team rushed up behind him, looking around like maybe Wally was relaxing somewhere else, like the Rogues wouldn't have enveloped him in a hug if he'd survived. Some others migrated towards them – Brion and Tara, Wyynde and Jason, Barry and Bart and Jay. A thick, oppressive layer of grief settled over the group, choking them, pressing them down into the dirt.

Len wondered how anyone expected them to survive this. Len was sure he wouldn't. There's only so many times you could see your kid die.

He wondered if the Rogues would fall apart as quickly this go around. Would Cameron strike out on his own again? Would Sam fall back into alcohol and depression? Would Hartley retreat more into himself? Would James pull away from the heists again? Len would try to hold them together, but there was only so much he could do when he was grieving just as badly as the rest of them.

His kid was dead. His kid was only 22 years old and he'd died twice, and Len felt like he'd died with him.

From off to the side, M'gann made a surprised noise. Len's hackles rose as he turned to glare at her. Couldn't she see that his world was frozen? That cracks were spiraling through the ice and threatening to plunge him into nothingness? He didn't need conversation. He didn't need to hear their grief. He just wanted silence. Couldn't he have that much?

But then M'gann said, slow and careful and _bright_, "He's not gone."

"What?" Hartley choked out, hands shaking around his flute.

M'gann swallowed before she said again, clearer, "He's not gone. He's still here. I – I can _sense_ him. He's not gone!"

"Then where is he?" Dick asked, frantic and desperate and so hopeful that it hurt.

Len felt like a part of him was being flayed alive. M'gann's words were like a grater against his soul. Could he dare to believe her? Could he give himself this one last chance to hope? He wasn't sure he'd survive it if this turned out to be wrong. Then again, he wasn't sure he'd survive this anyways.

M'gann put out a hand and pressed the other to her temple. Her eyes closed but they could all see the glow behind her eyelids. The distant cheering disappeared under the tense anticipation. She took a few steps forward, hand still outstretched. Len's heart was still trapped in his throat as he followed her movements.

Finally, M'gann's fingertips touched a certain part and a whirlwind erupted around her. She was sent flying back but was caught by Conner. From the origin of the whirlwind, a swirling vortex opened, mostly clear aside from the streaks of lightning around the edges that were so reminiscent of a speedster's lightning trail that Len's heart felt like it stopped.

He pushed through the racing wind, felt it tug his hood down. He kept going until he was standing right at the vortex. Was this the Speed Force? Was Wally just past this clear film? Len screamed into the vortex, "Wally! Wally, are you there?" Codenames didn't matter. Not at that moment, not when Len was so close to getting something back that he thought he'd lost for a second time.

There was silence for a long, long, heart-rending moment. Then, "Len? Is that you?"

"Yes, Wally! C'mon! You need to get out of there!" Len shouted back

There was a dreamlike quality to Wally's voice that made Len nervous, "It's beautiful in here, Len. Even more beautiful than I remembered."

Dick joined Len at the opening and started shouting in as well, "It's even more beautiful out here, Wally! I promise! Come back out here and see for yourself!"

"I'm home," Wally said softly, a kind of deep longing in his voice that terrified Len. How could they compete with that? He sounded drugged.

Barry joined started shouting next, even as all the others gathered around them, rings and rings of superheroes crowding in, "You're not, Wally! You're not supposed to be there yet!"

"It doesn't matter," Wally responded, cheerful in a way that just _wasn't_ him, "The Speed Force will take me whenever I want to go back. It loves me."

Dick frowned for a moment in concentration before his expression lit up with an idea, "Wally, you love the Speed Force, right? You want to make it happy like it makes you happy?"

"Of course," Wally sighed dreamily. Len's heart clenched. He wanted his kid back. He wanted his kid back _now_.

Dick gave a shaky grin to the vortex even though it was likely that Wally couldn't see them, "Well, then wouldn't it make sense to go back later? I mean, you said that when – when you go to the Speed Force, you're giving it all the kinetic energy you've gathered over your lifetime, right?" He paused, "Isn't that right, Wally?"

"Yes," Wally responded. He sounded distracted.

Dick hurried to gather his attention back to them, "So, so if you love the Speed Force, wouldn't you wait as long as possible to go back? I – I mean, you might m-miss it, but the longer you wait to go back, the more kinetic energy you can give it when you do go. If you wait until you – you die for r-real, then you'll have so much more to – to give back to the Speed Force. You don't want to just give it what you have now, do you? Don't you want to do something more for the Speed Force?" Len had never heard Dick stutter before. He'd never heard him have such a hard time getting an idea out. This must have been as terrifying for him as it was for Len.

Some of the dreaminess had left Wally's voice when he responded slowly, "That… makes sense."

Dick's eyes closed in relief. Len decided to continue pushing for him, "Then you should probably come out here to start getting more speed, Wally. You can't do it in there. We'll all help you as much as we can, okay?" His voice stuttered as he pushed past the face he wore when he was around superheroes, as he pulled out the person who just wanted his kid back, "We love you, Wally. We can help you, but only if you come back. _Please_ come back."

And he did.

They all tumbled forward at the same time, arms out to help Wally as he stepped back through the vortex, shaking and blurring and _crying_. Len didn't know if it was because he was happy to be back or if it was because he was sad that he left. For his own sake, Len didn't ask. Before anyone else could even dare, Len swept Wally into his arms and just held him there for a long moment. The other Rogues closed ranks around them, reaching out hands and fingers to touch Wally's suit, to show themselves that he really was alive.

The noise of the battlefield and the heroes gathered around them started to increase as the vortex started to fade, taking that powerful wind with it. Len just kept holding Wally, kept thanking anything he could think of for returning his son to him, for giving them _one more chance_.

Dick shoved his way into the circle, gripping Wally's hand in a hold tight enough to hurt. He whispered to his fiancé, "I love you, I love you, I love you. Thank you for coming back. I love you so much." He kept repeating the same phrases over and over again. Len barely stopped himself from doing the same thing. He'd do that later, when the others were asleep and Len could peek into Wally's door and whisper how glad he was that Wally made it home one more time.

Barry's voice interrupted Dick's litany, loud and cheerful, "Alright, alright! Everyone who's not a Rogue, Nightwing, or part of the Flash family, please step away! We need to make sure that Momentum's okay and crowding him isn't going to help. Come on, open up some space." He lowered his voice when he got closer, talking at a normal level, "How's he doing? Is he conscious?"

Len looked down and met hazy, unfocused eyes. He looked back to Barry, "Mostly. He still seems dazed."

Hesitantly, Tara offered from the edge of the crowd, "Slade said that the first time W- uh, Momentum was found after escaping the Speed Force, he was conscious all the way up until they, uh, got him in the labs. But Momentum said that he didn't remember anything until he was already being – being experimented on."

"That helps. Thank you, Terra," Barry smiled at her, "Do you know how much time passed between those two events?" Tara shook her head no. Barry gave her another comforting smile, "That's okay. Alright, let's get him warmed up. He's way too cold for a speedster. We'll bring him back to the Watchtower and get him hooked up to an IV as soon as possible."

"No," Len interrupted, "_We_ will bring him back to one of our safehouses. We've got infirmaries in some of them. You've used them before, you know how well equipped they are. You, Nightwing, and other speedsters can come. No one else. The rest of you can see him when he's better."

"He needs help!" Tara shouted at him. Len raised his eyebrows at her. She'd always been slightly timid around him, around everyone as far as he'd seen. He wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from her. She blushed but still allowed her back to straighten and her chin to raise, "He needs help. You might have an infirmary equipped for a speedster, but he can get a wider range of treatment from the superheroes at the Watchtower. They've shown that they can allow Rogues into the Watchtower. I'm sure you could stay there while he heals."

"Maybe he won't feel so comfortable healing around a bunch of _superheroes_," Sam pointed out hesitantly.

Tara looked down her nose at him, "Then make sure that you are the first people he sees. Can you do that much?" Digger bristled, a snarl on his lips as he tightened his grip on Wally's shoulder.

Len sighed out a breath. The fact of the matter was this: they were surrounded. If the superheroes really wanted it, then they could easily take Wally by force. Len was reasonably sure that most of them wouldn't do that, but he wasn't certain that there were enough of them to matter. It was going to be a fight no matter what. Wally shouldn't have to wait for them to figure their stuff out. The easiest, quickest route would be to just give in.

It wasn't going to be like last time, though, when Wally had no memory. They weren't going to put him in the prison cells and leave him there to rot, away from his family. Len's eyes flashed with ice when he looked up at Barry, "He's never in a room without at _least_ two of us. You try to separate us, and we _will_ fight you. There _will_ be a mirror large enough for transport in the room that he stays in. If we disagree with a treatment plan, you defer to _our_ opinion. We'll be free to add more rules to that list whenever we want."

"Understandable," Barry answered instantly.

Len added quickly, "And we get to control who comes in and out. I don't like the look some of those superheroes were giving him."

"Got it," Barry said seriously. He paused before admitting, "A lot of people are going to want to come by. He might be a supervillain but he just… just risked everything to save the world."

"No," Len said softly, glancing down at Wally. The Rogues weren't going to make this mistake again, "He risked everything to save _us_."

DDDDDD

Dick sat at Wally's bedside, his fiancé's hand trapped between both of his own. Hartley and James were doing something at the other side of the bed. It looked like they were silently fighting over music composition. It looked comfortable, like it was something they'd done a thousand times before. Dick wanted that with his own brothers, wanted one of them in there with him at that moment, but they were all busy. So, it was just Dick sat there, willing Wally to wake up. To look at him, to talk to him.

It was just a waiting game at the moment. All of the scans and tests they'd run showed that Wally was in perfect health – better than perfect, actually – but he just… wasn't waking up. It scared Dick, more than he wanted to admit. He knew that something similar had happened the first time Wally had come out of the Speed Force (how long had he sat there in the freezing snow and wind of Antarctica?) but knowing that and having to live through it were two very different things. He just wanted Wally to _wake up_.

As if in answer to his unspoken plea, Wally shifted, a long, drawn-out groan spilling past his lips. All three of the occupants of the room froze, eyes wide. It was the first time Wally had even _moved_ since the fight with Darkseid. Dick squeezed Wally's hand, "Wally? Are you there? Come on, babe. Come back to us. I know you can do it."

Hartley tapped Wally's face gently, smoothing Wally's hair back from his face, "C'mon, Walls. I know you're in there. Open your eyes. Make a dumb comment. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Next to him, James was repeatedly pushing the alert button that would bring Dr. Mid-Nite and anyone else who had a vested interest running into the room.

Slowly, Wally's eyes opened a crack. He winced at the light but continued to push his eyelids open. He licked his lips, wheezing as his fingers twitched. Dick gripped his hand again, "I know you can do it, babe. I love you. Please wake up."

Wally's eyes opened fully. For a moment, they were dull, staring out into nothing. Dick felt his heart stop. None of them knew a thing about the Speed Force, not really. Was there some sort of injury one could get from coming out too fast? Was it something about going into the Speed Force twice? But then Wally's eyes focused and he tilted his head to look at Dick. He just breathed for a few moments, hand still lax in Dick's hand.

Carefully, Hartley give Wally a small straw in a glass of water. Wally's hand finally twitched, moving upwards like he could grab the cup himself. Dick calmed him gently, "Hey, hey, come on. Hartley's got it. You just focus on drinking."

Wally, surprisingly, scowled at them. There was a pause as the three of them processed the movement before they all broke into laughter.

Dick was pretty sure it was the hardest he'd laughed in weeks. It might even have been the hardest he'd laughed since Wally died the first time. They laughed and laughed and laughed until they were all in tears, Wally scowling around the straw in his mouth.

It hit Dick, right at that moment. That Wally was back. Wally was really, really back. For good, this time. This was _his_ Wally. _His_ Wally was back and whole and was going to be okay.

He was going to be okay.

Everything was going to be okay.

No, everything was going to be _perfect_.


	34. Epilogue

WWWWWW

Wally breathed in slowly. He let out the breath just as slowly. Everything was going great. It was alright. Wally just needed to calm down.

It wasn't like he was getting cold feet or anything. Wally was absolutely certain that he was _incapable_ of getting cold feet for something like this. It was just that… this was big. This was big and important and Wally was so, so, so scared of screwing it up like he screwed up so many new, big things in his life.

Wally shook his head and clenched his jaw. No, he was being ridiculous. He was doing this with someone else this time. Dick wouldn't let him screw this up. He was too perfect for that. Wally slapped at both of his cheeks and looked at himself in the mirror. He'd gotten a fresh haircut for this. They'd waited until the stupid dye had grown all the way out (Wally had dyed the edges red because he couldn't stand to look at that caramel color the Light had dyed it) and then he'd gotten the undercut he'd been favoring for years. The sight of the familiar haircut calmed him somewhat. The small, classy lightning bolts in his lobes calmed him even more. Everything was going great. Wally had this.

Cameron burst into the room, Tara trailing hesitantly behind him, "Wally, why are you being so slow? Come on, come on, come on."

"I've got plenty of time," Wally grumbled. He pulled Tara into a hug and smiled at her, "You look lovely." She did, too.

Wally and Dick had chosen a lovely red for their main wedding color. The red was in the roses and ties on each of the groomsmen and bridesmen (Wally and Dick hadn't been able to commit to one gender each. Wally had proudly taken the side of 'bride' though) and it was the color of the dresses for each of the groomswomen and bridesmaids. Tara was wearing a rose red empire dress that draped over her flawlessly. She'd kept her hair short and simply accented it with a crown of roses.

Tara grinned at him, "Of course. I am incapable of looking anything other than lovely."

Wally rolled his eyes. Cameron snorted, "Normally, I'd argue with you, but we're in your country at the moment and I don't want to be kicked out." The two glared at each other. Wally rolled his eyes again. Cameron ended up being Wally's man of honor and Tara had been quite offended. She'd brought up, more than once, that since Gregor had allowed (pushed, cajoled, and practically ordered more like) Dick and Wally to have a destination wedding in Markovia, at the royal palace no less, she should be the maid of honor. Wally had pointed out patiently that he'd known Cameron for almost six years longer than he'd known her. Every time, she pouted but acquiesced. Wally thought it was adorable.

Tara turned back to Wally, "Do you remember what you're supposed to do at the end of the ceremony?"

"Yes, Tara," Wally grinned, "I remember." He'd been knighted fairly soon after his recovery. Tara, Brion, and Gregor had talked amongst themselves while Wally was out and had decided that his actions to save Tara were worthy of being knighted. It had been more than somewhat embarrassing, but Wally hadn't been able to resist feeling somewhat smug as well. He was a knight! Take that! As a kid, Wally would have _killed_ to be in the place he was now. Still, though, being a knight meant that he was going to have to go through some weird acceptance ceremony at the end of the wedding where King Gregor, Crown Prince Brion, and Princess Tara questioned the loyalty of Wally and Dick to each other and to Markovia. Only then would Wally be legally considered married. Apparently. He thought it was a sweet idea, even if he mocked Tara for bringing it up so often. She was more of a bridezilla than Wally was, and she wasn't even the bride. Wally couldn't even imagine what her wedding was going to be like if she ever decided to get married.

"Good," Tara said primly. She glanced over at the clock, "Cameron was right – about this _one_ single thing, - you are going to be late if you don't get going."

Wally sighed, "Alright, alright. I'm going. Jeez, excuse me for trying to look nice on my wedding day."

"Aw," Hartley cooed when Wally made it out of his changing room, "You always look nice, Wally. Even when you look awful. Which is always."

Wally rolled his eyes, "You are the absolute worst at insults, especially when you're feeling sappy."

"Can you blame him?" Jade asked archly, "You're the first of that sorry bunch of supervillains to get married and he's a hopeless romantic." Jade, Tara, and Lian made up Wally's bridesmaids. His bridesmen were Cameron, Hartley, and James. Tragically, Dick had stolen Will before Wally had gotten the chance. He'd wanted the whole Harper family set. Jade had punched him when he'd made the mistake of saying that in front of her.

"No," Wally sighed, "I'm sappy too. It's my wedding day! C'mon, be happy for me! Remove that lemon-sucking face!"

"I will stab you," Jade hissed. James snickered.

Tara laughed, "That's her way of being happy for you."

"You don't even know," Wally grumbled, "You should have seen when she was my primary trainer. I could only tell she was happy with my progress if she punched me and said, 'go grab more food' when we were in the dining hall."

Cameron snorted, "At least you got that much. I spent most of that time convinced she was going to kill me and burn the body." Jade rolled her eyes but picked Lian up and started walking with the rest of them anyways.

Wally leaned up against the wall as his bridespeople stood on their side of the line, waiting to go up to the altar to take their places. He smiled when he saw them pair of with Dick's groomspeople. Cameron stood at the front with Will sighing next to him. Jade and Kaldur were next (Wally was impressed that Kaldur managed to keep that straight of a face when Jade was glaring at him like that – both Jade and Will had wanted to be paired with each other). Lian was holding hands with Artemis, grinning up at her aunt with such excitement. Hartley came after that, sharing a long-suffering look with Conner. It was almost adorable. James had paired up with a slightly reluctant M'gann. They both knew each other and were something like friends, but sometimes James' enthusiasm could get to be a bit much for even M'gann. Then there was Tara, smiling shyly over at Jason. Wally was glad that the two of them got along. Jason was a shockingly good hand with kids.

Wally didn't realize he'd been staring so intently until Len clapped a hand on his shoulder, "You look like a creeper."

Sighing, Wally turned to face Len, "Why is everyone being mean to me? It's my wedding day. That means you're supposed to be nice."

"Who said that?" Len asked, mocking surprise, "As far as I'm concerned, you're shackling yourself to someone who's contractually obligated to be nice to you. You don't need us being nice right now." Wally rolled his eyes. In a rare show of emotions, Len tugged Wally in for a hug and whispered, "I'm proud of you. And I'm happy that you're happy. I hope this is the best day of your life up until now. I hope you keep having even better days."

"Len," Wally pouted, "You're going to make me cry and ruin my impeccable face."

"Impeccable face?" Len grimaced, pulling back out of the hug, "What impeccable face?"

"That's just rude," Wally sighed, resigned to his fate at that point.

He perked up when the bridespeople and groomspeople started walking into the room, slow, measured, practiced steps. There was something so beautiful about not only the intricacies of the steps, but also the formation they were in. Heroes were walking side by side with villains who were walking side by side with anti-heroes (who were walking side by side with the one civilian in the mix, of course). Wally smiled softly at the sight.

"Are you ready?" Len asked quietly. Wally glanced up, eyes wide. He hadn't even realized that the procession had made it all the way into the room already. Suddenly, he felt his nerves come back. What if he wasn't the absolute best person for Dick? What if something went wrong? What if someone attacked the wedding venue? Yeah, Wally had heard about enough superhero (and supervillain, though on a lesser scale) weddings being crashed that it was a valid concern. Len grinned at him, "Don't worry about it, kid. You're a Rogue. That means you're going to do great."

"Thanks, Len," Wally said. Len nodded back and then pushed open the door.

There was a quiet roar in the room. People whispered to each other and laughed and shifted and smiled so brightly Wally could _hear_ it. It was a truly quiet roar, quiet enough that he could hear the bridal chorus echoing over the room. Wally took a second – a _space_ of a second – to just take in the sight. Everyone there was happy. There was no crisis hanging over their heads. Half the superhero population and a large chunk of the supervillain population had come all the way out to Markovia for the wedding. Wally thought to himself that this must have been a nightmare for King Gregor and Bruce to arrange.

The wedding was being broadcasted because Dick was, in fact, a celebrity and any wedding taking place in the royal palace itself was cause for a commotion. Wally smirked at the thought of the headlines that had raged across both countries at the announcement. America's headlines had been something to the effect of 'Dick Grayson, Ward of Bruce Wayne, Announces Marriage to Unknown Man with Markovian Ties.' Markovia's headlines had been something like 'Beloved Knight, Sir Wally West, Marries American Cop.' Dick and Wally had both found the titles amusing.

But, because it was being recorded, Wally knew that Bruce had had to arrange for explanations as to why all the people in the crowd would know Dick and/or Wally. It hadn't been too hard for the superhero community because a lot of them took care of that as soon as civilian identities were introduced. It was easier to explain connections with Wally because no one knew anything about him, but it was harder to explain away the known criminals in the crowd. Wally was pretty sure that Bruce was just hoping that the camera wouldn't find any faces.

Wally relaxed his grip on time, allowing it to fall back into something normal. He was a speedster, yes, and proud of it. But for now? For this moment, he was going to take it in like a normal human, like his soon-to-be-husband would.

From across the aisle, Wally made eye contact with the love of his life. He couldn't help the probably ridiculous smile that overtook his face at the sight. Dick looked gorgeous in his sleek black tuxedo, a fantastic offset to Wally's pure white one. Wally barely noticed the passage of his steps before he stopped before Dick, breathless with anticipation, with love. He did notice, however, when Len squeezed his hand for a moment before carefully, slowly handing it over to Dick.

Wally didn't know if Len was supposed to say something there, if he was supposed to give some verbal signal that he'd passed off responsibility of Wally to Dick. He didn't need to, though. Len had always been a man of few words. Wally felt the action as much as he saw it.

Wally couldn't help the way his eyes threaded over with tears. They just brimmed at his lashes for a moment before dissipating but they were still beautiful. Wally was just – just so _happy_. And sure, being handed off to his fiancé was an emotional moment. It was the closing of one chapter of his life.

But that was the good thing about a book. He could go back and reread it as often as he wanted. His family was still there. His friends were still there. He was just moving forward, creating a deeper bond with the man he loved.

As Wally listened to the ceremony, he felt his heart swell. They deserved this. They had earned it. Life was going to be _perfect_ now. They were happy and together and they had finally, _finally_, gone to tie the knot.

As the rest of his life began, Wally smiled as wide as he possibly could and said, "I do."


End file.
